Central government services running GOV.UK websites have begun to accept payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay as part of a trial aimed at providing more options.

The payment pilot involves four services:

• The Global Entry Service, which enables UK citizens to obtain expedited entry to the US.
• Online Disclosure and Barring Service checks, carried out before people are allowed to work in certain sectors, often involving vulnerable people.
• The Registered Traveller Service, for frequent visitors from non-EU countries to use e-gates at UK borders.
• The Electronic Visa Waiver Service, allowing people from selected Middle East countries to travel more easily to the UK.

The Cabinet Office stated that it plans to make Apple Pay and Google Pay available for other central government services, followed by local government, police and the NHS later this year.

Till Wirth, lead product manager for 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.”

The move effectively introduces the use of fingerprint identification facial recognition into the platform, although this only applies to smartphones running on Apple’s iOS operating system.

The Cabinet Office noted that GOV.UK Pay has been used for more than 2.9 million transactions since it was launched in 2016.

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