Apple Pay coming to MBNA customers in the UK
MBNA will offer its customers access to Apple Pay, which is transforming mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay, later this year.
MBNA invests in innovation to make life easier for its customers. It was a pioneer of contactless payment technology – today, 100 percent of its cards are contactless payment-enabled. As a result, its customers are already among the biggest users of contactless payments. Now, MBNA will be among the first card firms offering Apple Pay to its customers in the UK. MBNA’s parent company, Bank of America, was part of the original Apple Pay launch in the US in October 2014. This experience – and its leadership in payments technology – will help MBNA quickly implement Apple Pay for its UK customers.
Contactless payments in the UK rocketed to £2.3 billion in 2014, an increase of over 300 percent from 2013. Beginning in September 2015, the contactless payment limit will increase from £20 to £30, fuelling further growth. MBNA customers were early adopters and are at the forefront of growth in contactless payments today. Offering Apple Pay to its customers is especially important for the kind of customer profile MBNA enjoys.
Security and privacy are at the core of Apple Pay. When you add a credit or debit card to Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device or Apple servers. Instead, a unique device account number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the secure element on your device. Each transaction is authorised with a one-time unique dynamic security code, instead of the security code from the back of your card.
Ian O’Doherty, CEO of MBNA, said: “At MBNA, our passion is to make our customers’ lives easier by investing in innovation. People are telling us they want new and innovative, as well as more secure and private, ways to pay. Apple Pay is another great example of how we’re investing in transforming payments for our customers.”
Apple Pay is easy to set up and users will continue to receive all of their existing card rewards and benefits. In stores, Apple Pay works 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.