Barclays to roll out HCE mobile payments across the UK in June

Barclays Contactless Mobile
SUMMER SET-UP: Barclays’ HCE mobile payments service will be going live in June

Barclays is to begin rolling out a host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payment feature to its mobile banking app in June, the UK bank has confirmed to NFC World. The service will enable customers to make transactions at any contactless terminal and pay for services across Transport for London (TfL) with a tap of their Android device using either a debit or credit card.

The service will coexist alongside the Contactless Mobile HCE payment function that was added to the Barclaycard app in January 2016, Barclays explained. Customers will be able to decide which mobile app they want to use as only one payment app can be set as the default app for contactless payments on an Android handset.

“Barclaycard launched its own functionality within its own app for Android payments in January,” Barclays told NFC World. “We’ve built upon this functionality and are rolling it out to all Barclays customers. Barclays Contactless Mobile uses HCE, like the Barclaycard functionality.”

Options

If a customer is using the existing service within the Barclaycard app and then sets up the new service with Barclays Mobile Banking, when they switch on tap-and-pay default for Barclays Mobile Banking within the phone settings, Contactless Mobile within the Barclaycard app will automatically cease to facilitate payments.

Essentially, the customer could have two Contactless Mobile accounts for their credit card — one with Barclays Mobile Banking and one within the Barclaycard app — but they are only able to use one at a time because of the default tap-and-pay option within the phone settings.

“For payments of up to £30, customers simply tap their mobile device on the retailer terminal in the same way they would tap a physical card,” Barclays says. “The service also allows contactless payments of between £30 and £100 by a tap of the mobile device, entering of the card’s normal PIN on the phone keypad and tapping again.”

Integration

“Set up is quick and easy as eligible Barclays debit cards and Barclaycard credit cards are automatically shown in the app meaning there is no need to enter card details,” the bank continues. Integrating Contactless Mobile within the Barclays Mobile Banking app also means customers can view their Contactless Mobile transactions alongside their other account transactions in one familiar environment.”

The Barclays Mobile Banking app is currently used by 5m Barclays customers who on average access the app 27 times per month, according to the bank.

“Giving customers the choice about how to make everyday payments while making it really easy for people to use our services is why we’ve designed this new contactless payment functionality which will sit at the heart of our already popular mobile banking app,” says Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK.

“It’s all there, in one place, ready to go with no need to enter card details, delivering a brilliant experience in an instant. Barclays Contactless Mobile is the latest in a series of digital innovations we have launched that allow customers to ‘pay it your way’, carrying out day to day transactions in the ways that suit them.”

The announcement follows the bank adding support for Apple Pay across the UK, enabling its customers with iOS devices to make NFC payments at the point of sale. The bank has no plans to support Android Pay, the company confirmed to NFC World.

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