Some British Government online services have begun accepting Apple Pay for online transactions. Initially, the gov.uk website is accepting Apple’s mobile payment system for four services, but acceptance will widen to local government, the NHS, and police later this year.
ITV reports that payments for the Global Entry Service – which enables UK citizens to get expedited entry to the US – as well as basic online disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks, the Registered Traveller Service and the Electronic Visa Waiver Service for people in the Middle East coming to the UK, can now be made via Apple or Google Pay.
Till Wirth, lead product manager of gov.uk Pay, said: “Allowing people to pay for Government services through Apple Pay and Google Pay means they won’t have to enter their credit or debit card information when making payments.
“This innovation will increase the convenience and security of gov.uk Pay for users and hopefully make their experience online a lot easier.”
Apple Pay launched in the United Kingdom back in 2015. The UK government’s online pay platform was launched in 2016 and has since been used to make more than 2.9 million transactions using credit and debit cards.
Oliver Dowden, the minister for implementation said: “We’re focused on making access to Government services as easy as possible. And introducing mobile payment to gov.uk Pay will also make transactions more secure.
“This is another example of how we are working smarter as a Government – improving services for people as well as reducing fraud and costs.”
