With Samsung having just unveiled the much awaited Galaxy Note 5 and the larger Galaxy S6 Edge+, it was inevitable that the Korean giant would present us with an official launch date for its fabled mobile payment system; Samsung Pay.
Great news ladies and gentleman of the United Kingdom. Apple Pay is now officially live in the UK. If you happen to be the proud owner of one of Apple's modern devices, namely an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or an Apple Watch, there now exists the ability to pay for goods and services in specific places without the need to whip out a debit or credit card or cold hard cash. After waiting patiently for nine months for it to actually enter the UK market, consumers will be able to use Apple Pay in more than 250,000 stores, including supermarkets Waitrose and Lidl, as well as popular food establishments Nando's and Wagamama.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle on Apple's WWDC 2015 opening keynote, Apple Pay is one feature that gained one or two additions that are sure to make plenty of people happy, not least the people of the UK - assuming they are with the right bank.
It's now less than 24 hours until Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference goes live in San Francisco, and with rumors and guesswork about to be either proven or dis-proven, things are starting to get interesting.
Apple's plan for payment domination within the United States using its own Apple Pay system has received a significant boost after it was confirmed that Tim Cook's company has struck a deal to integrate the payment system into The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The 5-star Cosmopolitan, located in the heart of Las Vegas Boulevard, has confirmed via an official statement that that it will indeed be adopting Apple Pay on its premises in an effort to not only lead the way in adopting new technologies but to also make payments faster and easier for guests and residents of the resort.
Apple Pay is gradually expanding its reach, and many of the big-name retailers are already on board. Best Buy is doing its bit to get with the times by adding in-app support for Apple's new transaction scheme today, and per the words of Tim Cook, the electronics retail giant will begin accepting Apple Pay later on this year.
Apple Pay continues to go from strength to strength, with the U.S. government now taking advantage of Apple’s technology.
Even companies that, on paper, seem largely unrelated like to form mutually beneficial partnerships, and given how often you see a MacBook's glowing logo in a coffee shop, it should come as no surprise that Starbucks has just brought Apple Pay capabilities to its official iOS app. There are several other new features besides, the details of which you'll find below.
Things are moving rather swiftly as far as Apple Pay is concerned. Announced in September and launched one month later, the contactless system has rolled out across numerous outlets, with a number of banks and retailers having jumped on the bandwagon, and now, more than 200,000 amenities such as vending machines, kiosks and parking pay stations will be joining the party.
Apple Pay is being picked up rather swiftly by iOS users, helping to push the wider market for contactless payments. Boosted by Apple's apparent ability to get users to update software sooner rather than later, a number of big-name retailers and financial institutions are already on board, and as a part of this ongoing process, MasterCard will be throwing in some decent perks to PGA Tour attendees processing transactions via Apple Pay.
