After a successful roll out in America, which saw Apple Pay rapidly become the most popular contactless payment method across the US, Apple Pay has now launched in the UK.
Apple Pay is already available in the UK in a vast range of big-name stores and restaurants, including Costa, M&S, Boots and Co-Op. As we speak, UK owners of iPhones and Apple Watches are becoming increasingly used to using Apple Pay as a payment method, so introducing it as an option within your own business is a great way of keeping up with the times and maximising your revenue potential.
Apple Pay Payment Providers
Thankfully, plenty of UK payment providers already offer support for Apple Pay. Here’s a list of the key providers at the time of writing:
Adyen offer a refined solution for processing Apple Pay payments, both online and in-store. Adyen solutions that already include contactless payment processing should work with Apple Pay with no additional work.
Several well-known UK businesses are using Adyen to handle their Apple Pay transactions, including JD Sports, Just Eat, and River Island.
Elavon Merchant Services is already fully provisioned for Apple Pay, and businesses with contactless readers should be able to accept Apple Pay payments without any need for additional configuration.
So, if you already use Elavon, the chances are you can already allow people to pay using their iPhones and Apple Watches.
iZettle is the perfect choice for SMEs wanting to accept Apple Pay payments with minimal hassle.
iZettle’s inexpensive contactless reader is capable of taking Apple Pay payments without any complicated setup work – it’s just like dealing with any other contactless payment. You simply need to use a linked iPhone or iPad to deal with the “back end” of the transaction.
With transaction fees on a sliding scale and no hidden costs, iZettle is one of the easiest ways for a small business to get started with all kinds of mobile payments, including Apple Pay.
Unsurprisingly WorldPay accept Apple Pay transactions, which is only to be expected from the UK’s largest card payment provider.
As with other providers, you’ll require a contactless card reader to deal with Apple Pay users, and beyond this you should have no problems. However, it’s worthy of note that (at the time of writing) the inexpensive WorldPay Zinc mobile payment terminal is not contactless-enabled, so if you use this you may need to swap to an alternative.
The basics of accepting Apple Pay in the UK
As stated above, if you already have a means of accepting contactless payments, and you’re using one of the providers on our list, the chances are you can already accept Apple Pay. However, it makes sense to follow Apple’s suggestion of contacting your provider before you try to accept your first transaction.
In order to draw attention to the fact you accept Apple Pay, Apple will provide you with free decals for shop windows and counter areas. Click here to find further information on Apple’s website. You can also download a “payment mark” graphic for use on websites and marketing materials.
Are there any transaction limits?
Depending on the configuration of your mobile payment solution, you may be restricted to only accepting contactless Apple Pay transactions to a value of £20.
However, Apple Pay is geared up for payments of any amount, so long as your provider meets the “latest network contactless specifications.” We suggest that to avoid embarrassment with customers you check with your payment provider before accepting large Apple Pay sales, in case there are any transaction limits in place.
What about refunds?
Refunds and returns are easy to process via Apple Pay, and work just like normal card payment refunds. However, you must learn what you need to tap on an iPhone or Apple Watch to access the Device Account Number, which is required to process a refund.
We suggest familiarising yourself with the sequences provided on Apple’s website.
Thanks to the modern technology now available from a wide range of mPOS providers, it’s just as easy for a sole trader or small business to offer Apple Pay payments as it is for a large retailer. If you’re not already offering this payment method to customers, there’s no excuse not to start now!