Flashing your credit or debit card across a contactless payment device has become exceedingly popular here in the UK. So much so that we spent ÂŁ2.3 billion via the relatively new method in 2014.
That’s a threefold rise compared to the previous 12 months, and you can bet that’ll rise in 2015 too.
But amongst all that, paying via your phone has been something of a non–starter.
For all the efforts of networks, with O2 Wallet and EE Cash On Tap the prime movers, consumers just can’t take to the solutions on offer.
They’re clunky and require solid security, something which has been lacking until now.
Things are set to change if reports about Apple Pay’s UK launch are correct.
The mobile payment method is apparently going live here in the next two months, almost a year after it launched in the US.
Across the pond, it has been a relative success, outdoing the outdated Google Wallet, but still not gaining massive traction thanks to that country’s wildly outdated and insecure card payment methods.
Here, however, the conditions are perfect for Apple Pay to flourish. Big names like Lloyds, Santander and MasterCard are said to be on board for launch.
40% of UK smartphone owners have an iPhone (although only a fraction of those will have the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus necessary for Apple Pay.
Throw in a booming contactless market and retailers throughout the UK that now have contactless payment terminals as standard and you can see this becoming a must–have for iPhone users.
Once again, this is a case of Apple getting its timing right rather than being first to market with a mobile-payment solution.
We trialled an early version of the long-dead O2 Wallet on an old–school flip phone in 2008. It was clunky, but cool for the time.
Apple Pay, however, with its Touch ID and deep support for cards already registered to iTunes, takes things further than any rival.
Its launch here should push Google and Samsung to launch their new services sooner, which means we’re likely to see a boom in mobile payments as 2015 goes on.
Until now, mobile payments have been seen as a cool, but ultimately extraneous part of the smartphone experience.
But by launching into the UK market Apple could finally be about to take a feature stratospheric, after threatening to blow up for years.
The end of the credit card and wallet is surely nigh.
