A few of the stragglers who have lagged in offering support for Apple in the U.K. have finally come around. Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Halifax (a division of Bank of Scotland) have announced support. It was reported last week that Lloyds appeared almost ready to go.
The three new banks join a growing list of UK Apple Pay participating issuers including: American Express, MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Ulster Bank, First Direct, and HSBC.
Still listed as “Coming Soon on the U.K. Apple Pay website are M&S Bank, TSB, and Barclays. Although Barclays had confirmed that their support was “imminent” back in July, the bank has yet to come through for customers.
Apple Pay debuted in the U.K. back in July, with more than 250,000 retail locations accepting the contactless payment service. The UK Card Association earlier this month announced that the limit for Apple Pay and other forms of contactless payments has been raised to £30 per transaction in the United Kingdom.
Previously, the limit for Apple Pay and other contactless payments was set at £20. The Association says the new £30 payment limit is being introduced due to the popularity of contactless spending and as the increasing number of contactless cards in circulation. More money was spent using contactless payments between January and June of this year than in the whole of 2014.
