As Apple Pay gears up to launch in Britain in July, Barclays Bank – one of the region’s major financial institutions – remains an important holdout while ramping up its own wearables-based contactless payments strategy. Barclaycard first introduced the bPay wristband last year and is now adding a key fob, a sticker that can be adhered to a smartphone or other flat surface and a mobile application, enabling users to make and manage contactless payments. While the financial institution is angling for a dominant role in Britain’s emerging mobile payments market, the strategy could be hampered by restrictions on the size of transactions as well as the growing momentum behind Apple Pay.