NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Barclaycard, one of the top payment card issuers in the UK, plans to launch NFC payments from its mobile-banking app in November using host card emulation, which will allow the issuer to avoid putting its payment applications on secure elements to roll out mobile payments.

Barclaycard, an early adopter of both contactless cards and NFC mobile payments in the UK, is one of the highest-profile banks yet to announce plans to use HCE technology. The bank told NFC Times it is launching the HCE-based service to “provide a better and more scalable customer experience, and to put Barclaycard in control of security.” 

While Barclaycard was an early holdout among major UK issuers in participating in Apple Pay, which launched in the UK in July, it reconfirmed plans today to eventually support the service, though hasn’t specified a date. Barclaycard told NFC Times that it is too early to say whether it will support Samsung Pay or Google’s Android Pay.