Apple Pay is the first digital wallet that Permanent TSB has introduced for its personal banking customers, while Google Pay is on the cards for Q1 or Q2 in 2021.
It’s been long-awaited and much anticipated, but Permanent TSB current account customers can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Today PTSB finally launched Apple Pay for its customer base of over 1 million people, the first digital wallet to be launched by the retail bank.
The payment option is the latest extension to Permanent TSB’s digital banking offering and will be available to all its personal current account and credit card customers from today.
The digital wallet will also be available to all SME current account customers with business debit cards.
Speaking about the introduction of Apple Pay, Head of Personal Banking at Permanent TSB, Jeff Harbourne, said:
We are delighted to bring this great additional feature to our Personal and SME customers. It highlights our commitment to bringing customers what they want and making banking and payments easier for them.
We continue to work quickly on bringing a broader range of innovative, customer-friendly features to our digital banking offering and will make further announcements shortly.
Competitors Bank of Ireland and An Post only recently announced the launch of Apple Pay for their Irish banking customers.
Fees & charges
Customers of PTSB will be glad to know that paying with Apple Pay won’t be any more expensive than using your physical card. In other words, the same rules apply as when you tap your bank card.
Customers of Permanent TSB’s Explore Current Account also get 10c cashback every time they use their card to pay for something in-store or online, and this includes payments made with Apple Pay.
Since its launch in Ireland in 2017, Apple Pay has gone from strength to strength and is one of the most popular and in-use digital wallets on the market here, alongside Google Pay and Fitbit Pay.
But what exactly is it and how can you use it?
How Apple Pay works
Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service which allows banking customers to use their Apple device to make payments in store, in-app, or online.
Digital wallets, including Apple Pay, are invaluable at the minute as they enable customers to make payments without touching physical buttons on a card machine or having to carry and exchange cash. They also aren't subject to the usual €50 contactless payment limit.
Apple Pay is a safe and secure payment technology as it harnesses Apple’s iOS to make payments more private. In order to pay, customers must first authenticate the payment using Face ID, Touch ID, or by using their device passcode first.
What’s more, actual card numbers are not stored on your device with Apple Pay, nor are they stored on Apple servers. Instead, what’s called a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted, and securely stored in the hardware of your device.
Your PTSB card can be added to most devices running iOS, including your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Mac for faster and more convenient purchases.
Adding a card to Apple Pay on iPhone is simple and can be completed in three short steps.
- Open settings on your home screen
- Scroll and click ‘Wallet & Apple Pay'
- Choose ’Add Card’
Introduction of Google Pay
While customers of PTSB have been awaiting the launch of Apple Pay for quite some time, it remains the only digital wallet on offer from the bank, which is still a furlong behind many other Irish financial institutions in the digital banking race.
However, Permanent TSB has confirmed that Google Pay, another digital wallet payment service, will be introduced for customers within the first six months of 2021 - so still a while away yet.
As it stands, all of the other main banking providers in Ireland offer both Apple Pay and Google Pay at the least. Permanent TSB is still the only provider to only offer one digital wallet.
Take a look at our neat table below which outlines what mobile payments options are available with each bank.
Recent updates
Since PTSB announced the rollout of Apple Pay, there have been a number of developments in the digital banking sector:
- In December 2020 the Credit Union launched Google Pay and Fitbit Pay for current account customers.
- Months later in June 2021, the Credit Union also announced that it was launching Apple Pay.
- In August, An Post decided to take on Revolut with the launch of its new current account app.
Stay up to date with all the latest banking news with our blogs.
Compare current accounts
If you’d like to switch current accounts to a banking provider who supports a particular digital wallet, or if you’d simply like to save some money on your monthly banking costs, you can use bonkers.ie to compare the best current account options using our trusted comparison tool.
Feel like saving some more money on your banking costs? Take a look at our banking and personal finance page to see what other bills you could be overpaying on.
We recently assessed which bank has the best value current account offering, which you may find useful if looking to switch current accounts.
If you don’t want to switch right now but would like to save on banking charges, check out these 9 simple ways to reduce your current account fees.
Feel like saving some more money on your banking costs? Take a look at our banking and personal finance page to see what other bills you could be overpaying on.
Get in touch!
Are you a PTSB customer? Are you happy to hear about these developments? Let us know in the comments below!
If you have any questions about Apple Pay or digital wallets, get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
