Apple Pay to launch in UK in July
Participating retailers include Marks & Spencer, Costa and Waitrose – as well as Transport for London, meaning that Tube and bus travel can be paid for with Apple’s contactless payment system.
Apple Pay will be supported by more than 70% of the credit and debit cards in the UK, said Apple executive Jennifer Bailey at WWDC.
The mobile payment system launched in America in 2014, alongside the iPhone 6, but has been slow to expand to other territories.
Britain is the first country outside the US to have access to use Apple Pay, which lets users pay for things, both on- and offline, using just their phone or watch.
When used as an offline payment system, Apple Pay works in conjunction with an NFC (near-field communications) chip found in the two newest iPhones and the Apple Watch to let users pay for goods by tapping their phones on contactless card readers in stores.
In the US, the system took a marathon of deals to put together, with Apple negotiating with banks, retailers and credit card companies individually to build enough support.
Elsewhere, however, the launch is expected to be much simpler because Apple Pay uses the same technology as that found in conventional contactless card readers, already common across much of Europe and Asia.
But unlike contactless cards, Apple Pay includes an extra security measure – tokenisation – which ensures that the card details stored on a phone are never passed to the retailer. Instead, the payee receives a one-use “token”, which allows them to debit the payment but cannot be reused in future.
Online, Apple Pay uses the same tokenisation system to speed up and secure e-commerce, letting iPhone owners pay for goods on supported websites with just a tap of their finger on the phone’s fingerprint reader.
In the US, uptake of Apple Pay was strong, with more than 40% of iPhone 6 owners having used it at least once, according to Auriemma Consulting.
But the service was hampered by a need to bring partners in one by one, leading to some major hold-outs: most notably Walmart, which is already waging a war against credit card firms over merchant fees and reportedly views Apple Pay as merely perpetuating an expensive system.
New report reveals over 105,000 households below the poverty line in the South West include an adult that smokes
More than 120 public health-related organisations have joined Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) today to call on the Government to impose an annual levy on tobacco companies. [1] The money raised would pay for evidence-based tobacco control and stop smoking services. This could save thousands of lives in the South West over the next decade, reduce the number of people living in poverty and save the NHS badly needed money. [2]
Smoking Still Kills, an ambitious five-year tobacco strategy, is being launched the week after the Chancellor announced that the Department of Health would have to make £200 million of savings from its budget for non-NHS services to come from cuts to council-controlled public health budgets. [3]
Deborah Arnott chief executive of action on smoking and health said:
"The NHS faces a £22 billion funding gap by 2020 which the NHS five-year forward view makes clear can only be bridged by a radical upgrade in prevention and public health. Otherwise there will be major cuts in services. The government has already consulted on a levy on the tobacco industry to pay for the damage it does, the time to go ahead is now with the money raised funding prevention and public health."
Every year smoking costs the NHS in the South West at least £180 million and a further £1.2 billion in wider costs to society [4]. The Smoking Still Kills report highlights the need for investment at every level; locally, nationally and regionally.
New ASH research also reveals that in the South West over 105,000 households who live below the poverty line include an adult that smokes. If they quit over 26,000 households in the South West would be lifted out of poverty [5].
In the March budget earlier this year the Chancellor committed the Government to continue the consultation on imposing a levy on tobacco companies [6].
Those living in the South West strongly support Government action to reduce smoking. Over a third (36%) think the Government should do more to reduce smoking while a further 44% think the Government is getting it about right. [7]
The health gains which have been made in the last few decades have not been even across society. Smoking is now more concentrated than ever among the least advantaged in society. The report states that a new properly funded Government strategy must also address the startling and widening health inequalities smoking causes.
The report calls for:
- A new vision for the country with ambitious target of achieving 5% smoking rate by 2035: No one should be left behind as we achieve a tobacco free future and health inequalities must not be allowed to widen
2. A new comprehensive five-year Government tobacco strategy for England: Comprehensive approach is vital - 70,000 lives have been saved due to falling smoking rates since 1998, when the first comprehensive government strategy on tobacco, Smoking Kills, was published.
3. A new approach to funding, annual levy on tobacco companies to fund tobacco control: Tobacco companies make over £1bn in profit in the UK and the harms from smoking to society are significant. They should pay to address the harms they cause.
4. A comprehensive package of measures: taken together the recommendations in this report are designed to set us on the path to a smokefree future by 2035.
Fiona Andrews, Director of Smokefree South West, said:
"This new research reveals the startling truth about how many smoking households are living below the poverty line in our region. This demonstrates what a serious impact tobacco addiction can have on families, not just on their health but on their financial situation too.
"Every day 200 people die from smoking related illnesses. At the same time hundreds of young people take up smoking, storing up a burden of ill health and premature death for the future. As this report makes clear we must do more to reduce the number of people smoking in the South West."
Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of British Heart Foundation, said:
"We need a comprehensive new strategy, sustained investment in tobacco control and strong political will to show we are serious about reducing the devastating damage that smoking causes. By cutting smoking rates further, we can reduce the rate of heart attacks almost immediately, and deliver longer term benefits by reducing cardiovascular conditions that cause so much suffering and cost the country dearly."
Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, said:
"Any strategy to prevent cancer in this country must have a strong focus on tobacco. Smoking Still Kills provides a blueprint for the Government to show it remains seriously committed to tackling tobacco over the next five years. The real cost of this lethal and addictive product is borne by the people who suffer its effects through cancer and other diseases. But there is also a financial cost to the NHS and to society. This should be picked up by the tobacco companies themselves, who have been the agents of an epidemic which continues to impose a devastating economic and social burden on this country."
RPC recommended as a buy for investors as it produces healthy sales and profit growth despite headwinds
As RPC reports its full year results, Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, explains what they mean for investors.
"This morning plastic packaging group RPC announced full-year results that were ahead of market expectations, and trading in its new financial year is on track. Revenues for the year to March rose 17% to £1.2bn, while adjusted pre-tax profits were up 33% to £119m. Investors will be pleased that the company maintained its strong long term track record on dividends, with a further 12% rise in overall payments for the year.
"Better still was news that the recent £307m acquisition of European plastic packaging group Promens is now expected to yield annual cost synergies of €30m, which is double the initial estimate. Such acquisitions are already making a contribution and have helped to diversify the group's customer base and widen its exposure to different markets around the world.
"These are a good set of results from RPC showing healthy sales and profit growth, despite headwinds from adverse currency movements and higher polymer prices. Due to the company making progress with its strategy of moving into the fast-growing markets, streamlining its European operations and maintaining a strong dividend policy, we recommend RPC as a 'buy' for medium risk investors seeking a balance of income and growth."
