Apple Pay debuts in the UK without Barclays and HSBC

Apple (AAPL) rolled out its mobile payment plan to consumers in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, but without two of its biggest bank supporters.

While customers of American Express (AXP), NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Banco Santander (SAN) who own an iPhone 6, 6 Plus or Apple Watch could start tapping to pay with Apple Pay immediately, those who bank at Barclays (BCS) and HSBC (HSBC) were left out, at least initially. HSBC had been listed as participants when Apple officially announced the UK expansion on June 8 and Barclays supports the service in the United States.

Both banks took to Twitter to defend their tardiness. "We are really excited about the launch of Apple Pay and will bring Barclays debit cards and Barclaycard credit cards to Apple Pay in future," Barclays tweeted from its official account. HSBC was more specific: "We haven't pulled out. We'll be launching Apple Pay later in July."

A spokeswoman for HSBC said the bank "had always planned to go later in July" and declined to give any reason for the delay. Requests for comment to Barclays and Apple were not immediately returned.

Analysts said the delays could be due to simple technical glitches or to ongoing negotiations over final terms.

Apple's participation fee could be a particular bone of contention, Cherian Abraham, Mobile Commerce and Payments Lead at Experian Global Consulting, said.

In the United States, participating banks such as Citibank (C) and Bank of America  (BAC) agreed to pay Apple 0.15% of the value each transaction, which comes out of the fees they collect from retailers. Such fees can total 2% or more of every sale.

But so-called exchange fees are much more highly regulated in the UK and could be holding up participation from the two lagging banks, Abraham said. "The 15 (basis point) fees seem like a good place to start as a reason for their grievance," he says.

Also, since the U.S. debut of Apple Pay, the big credit-card networks have added more general support of contactless pay transactions and Google (GOOGL) announced its Android Pay competitor, as has Samsung. So it's no longer something that only Apple can support. And Barclays recently introduced its own line of "tap and pay" hardware, dubbed bPay, including a $50 wristband.

The UK rollout marks only Apple's second market for Apple Pay, which launched in the U.S. last October. While hundreds of U.S. banks and retailers have signed on, only a few consumers are using the "tap and pay" system, which requires a recent iPhone or Apple Watch. About 8 million to 12 million U.S. households have signed up, according to a survey by Phoenix Marketing International. And a Gallup poll last year found only 6% of U.S. consumers planned to use Apple Pay in the next 12 months.

(This story was updated to correct that Barclays supports Apple Pay in the United States. It was not listed by Apple as a supporter in the United Kingdom last month.)