Apple’s new payment service seems to have been successful in the US, but it is yet to be launched in the UK. In order to accomplish this goal, the iPhone maker will need the support of major banks and retailers all over the country. However, according to sources, the talks with such firms and institutions is turning out to be a bit more complicated and difficult than expected. One notable British bank, in particular, is not comfortable with the financial and personal data that will be collected by Apple from its customers. The service is expected to be launched sometime in the next year, but no precise date has been provided as yet.
The reports have shown that negotiations between the Cupertino, California giant and one of the biggest banks in the UK have proven to be extremely tricky, primarily because of the data that will be accessed by Apple. This wrangling could cause the release date of Apple’s Pay launch to be delayed. Alternatively, it is also possible that the service could be launched by Apple without the cooperation of the yet unnamed bank. No comment has been provided by Apple regarding this issue.
When the American tech giant launched the Apple Pay system in the US earlier this year, it was extremely tight-lipped as to when the service would be rolled out to other countries. However, a recent job listing accidentally let it slip that the service would now be launched in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, India and Asia. Since then, the listing has been taken down and it may be because Apple wasn’t ready to divulge the information or it has already filled the position. Tim Cook, the CEO of the company had announced the introduction of Apple Pay at the launch event in September held for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.
It was in October that the service was finally launched and now it is accepted by 17 banks and about 220,000 retailers in the country. Pedro Sousa of Visa made an announcement shortly after the launch of Apple Pay that it would soon be coming to the UK, but no particular details were provided. His comments were bolstered by the recent job listing as it showed that the service could be made available within months. The listing made it clear that Apple was looking to form an Apple Pay team in order to roll out this technology.
According to particulars, Apple is looking for an intern for handling non-disclosure contracts and agreements. A similar listing was also posted in China, which was hunting for a Site Reliability Engineer for Apple Pay. But, the rollout of the service is expected to be slow particularly in Europe because the iPhone maker will have to get the approval of the European Union Council of Ministers along with signing deals with numerous banks and retailers. New rules were recently recommended by the ministers for mobile payments. However, the rollout could be made quickly because of rumors that Samsung is working on a rival for Apple Pay.