AIB has launched Apple Pay, the digital payment system that uses your iPhone as a contactless payment card in a shop.

Apple Pay will now work with AIB debit and personal credit cards everywhere contactless payments are accepted.

Using it requires a swipe of a phone or Apple Watch against a contactless terminal to pay for something.

The move means that AIB, Ulster Bank and KBC support Apple Pay while Bank Of Ireland and Permanent TSB do not. Bank Of Ireland also does not support Android pay, leaving it alone as one of the pillar banks without such capability.

Using Apple Pay requires one of the newer iPhones (an iPhone 6, iPhone 7 or iPhone SE). It can also be used with newer iPad models, MacBooks after 2012, with Touch ID on the new MacBook Pro and on all Apple Watches.

Transactions using iPhones are validated by using a fingerprint or a pin code. Transaction limits are similar to those for existing contactless cards.

Retail partners using the system include supermarkets such as Supervalu, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, Aldi, Centra and Marks and Spencers. Other retails chains such as Insomnia, Boots and Harvey Norman also accept the payment system as do petrol stations such as Applegreen and Amber Oil.

The system works by incorporating Mastercard or Visa contactless debit and credit cards. It can also be used shopping online or within apps.

Adding a card to an iPhone or an iPad is done through the Wallet app on the device. For an Apple Watch, it’s done through the Watch app on an iPhone.

For iPhones that are lost or stolen, the card can be disabled through icloud.com/find or by ringing the bank and cancelling the card in the normal way.

Apple says that Apple Pay is safer than using a traditional credit or debit card because each transaction is protected with either Touch ID or a passcode. It also says that card numbers and identities aren’t shared with the retailer or merchant and that the card numbers aren’t stored on your device or on Apple servers.

Apple also says that products bought using Apple Pay on an iPhone or Watch can be returned, with the balance recredited using the gadgets themselves at the retailer’s payment terminal.

“Supporting Apple Pay is the latest in a number of innovative, customer focused developments that cements digital banking as an essential part of our customer’s daily lives,” said Fergal Coburn, head of digital products in AIB. “It’s about making banking more convenient for AIB customers, The way people are banking is changing and with Apple Pay our customers will have even greater choice in the way they purchase goods and services.”

Online Editors