This article is more than 1 year old

Apple Pay's Brit biz bashed by banks planning to Zapp it out

We'll use our own NFC payment solution

Britain's biggest high street banks are launching their own digital payment services to fight off Apple's invasive Pay system.

Cupertino's steady conversion of its eToy market dominance into the active, omnipresent control of the entire universe has found an opponent in yesteryear's foremost public enemies: the good old high street banks.

The banks had offered their earlier concerns over the fruity folk's NFC payment solution by stressing its security and privacy issues, though their new activity displays a sheer fear of being out-competed.

The Financial Times reports [paywall] that Barclays has cooked up a deal with mobile payments service Zapp, as it attempts to hold the gate against Apple Pay.

Apple Pay, the launch of which was announced early this summer and which is due to appear next week, has been advertised by Barack Obama. Apple has stated it is happy to receive a mere 0.15 per cent processing fee as it still gets to be "at the centre of payments".

Barclays is the only large high street bank which will definitely be shunning Apple Pay in the UK. The bank is attempting to maintain its own Pingit payments application. The pink sheet also notes that "HSBC, First Direct, Nationwide, Santander and Metro Bank have signed up to provide digital payments through Zapp".

"Sainsbury, Asda, House of Fraser, Thomas Cook and Shop Direct are among a number of large British retail brands that have signed up to Zapp", it adds, as customers increasingly emigrate towards neatly-trackable mobile payments. ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like