Apple Wallet is making it easier to see your current account balances

In a rare UK-first release, Apple is soft-launching an iPhone Wallet app, harnessing open banking.

Users will now be able to see their current account balance, as well as a history of deposits and payments, directly through their Apple Wallet.

This information will appear alongside Apple Pay purchases, giving customers a fuller picture of their spending when they make payments.

The integration is rolling out in the next iOS update in beta, available to iPhone users in the UK who have an Apple Pay card connected to one of the supporting banks.

Banks including Starling, Monzo, Lloyds, RBS, Barclays and HSBC are supported in this first rollout.

Freddy Kelly, a senior engineering manager at Apple Pay, shared the news on LinkedIn.

Kelly co-founded and headed up Credit Kudos, which was acquired by Apple last year and at the time used banking data to help businesses make lending decisions.

The motivation behind the acquisition was unclear at the time — Simon Taylor, 11:FS co-founder and now Sardine head of strategy and content, even said at the time, “Apple has a habit of acquiring something and then going silent for two years. Expect the same here”.

While this is unlikely to be the sole reason Apple acquired Credit Kudos, the startup had an open banking focus which will have significantly helped with the feature’s functionality.

It may take a lot longer for the feature to be replicated in other markets, like the US, without interoperable open banking.