British Government services have begun accepting Apple Pay to approve online transactions. The gov.uk website is accepting Apple's mobile payment system for four services initially, but it will roll out more widely as well as to local government, police, and the NHS later this year, ITV reports.



Payments for the Global Entry Service, enabling UK citizens to get expedited entry to the US, can now be made via Apple or Google Pay. The same goes for basic online disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks, the Registered Traveller Service and the Electronic Visa Waiver Service for people in the Middle East coming to the UK.



Till Wirth, lead product manager of gov.uk Pay, said: "Allowing people to pay for Government services through ‌Apple Pay‌ and Google Pay means they won't have to enter their credit or debit card information when making payments. "This innovation will increase the convenience and security of gov.uk Pay for users and hopefully make their experience online a lot easier."

‌Apple Pay‌ launched in the United Kingdom in 2015, while the UK government launched its online Pay platform in 2016. The gov.uk Pay service has since been used to make more than 2.9 million transactions using credit and debit cards, according to the report.