Visa Europe: „Apple Pay will catapult mobile payments into the mainstream”

Visa Europe announced that it will offer Visa debit, credit and reloadable prepaid cardholders access to Apple Pay, a new service that looks set to transform mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay when it launches in the UK this July. Apple Pay can be used with the hundreds of thousands of contactless point of sale terminals which are already used millions of times every day throughout the UK.

Jeremy Nicholds, Executive Director of Mobile at Visa Europe, commented: “Contactless payments are already widely embraced by millions of Visa cardholders across the country every day, so adding the simplicity and convenience of Apple Pay will catapult mobile payments into the mainstream. If people leave the house with one item, it’s their mobile phone – we’ve worked alongside Apple and the various banks involved to give customers a really seamless and exciting new payment experience through Apple Pay, so they have new ways to use their favourite Visa cards on the go and when shopping in the apps they love.”

Apple Pay can be used to touch and pay wherever Visa contactless payment is accepted. There are already more than 2.6 million Visa contactless terminals across Europe with over 400,000 terminals in 250,000 outlets in the UK, including major retailers such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, and Boots, as well as the Transport for London network, and thousands of independent shops and restaurants. Leading UK Visa banks that have confirmed their participation in Apple Pay so far include Bank of Scotland, Coutts, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, M&S Bank, MBNA, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, TSB, and Ulster Bank.

„Security and privacy are at the core of Apple Pay. When you add a Visa credit or debit card to Apple Pay, the actual payment
card details are not stored on the device – instead, a unique number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored on the device and used to process payments. Each transaction is authenticated using the same strong cryptographic technology that is used for Chip-and-PIN and contactless payments.”, according to the press release.

Visa cardholders making purchases using Apple Pay will be covered by all the same benefits they currently enjoy with their Visa debit and credit cards, including liability protection for unauthorised purchases and widespread international acceptance.

Apple Pay works contactlessly with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. When paying for goods and services within apps, Apple Pay is compatible with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.
According to Visa Europe, the company is the leading payments system in Europe, having increased its market share over MasterCard in Europe from 55.5% in 2011 to 56.9% in 2013.