Apple Pay has officially launched in Israel, a nine million people market.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Apple Pay has launched in Israel.
- Some banks will support Apple Pay later in 2021.
- Apple Pay made its US debut six years ago in 2014.
Apple Pay is now live in Israel
The Apple-branded mobile payment service now works for customers in Israel.
According to Israeli publication The Verifier, customers of all local banks and credit card companies will eventually be able to add their credit or direct debit card to the service. Apple Pay was previously working on adding support for Pepper, Israeli’s mobile banking option.
Other banks will be adding support for the feature sometime later this year.
Some Israeli customers can already add their locally-issued credit or debit card to the Wallet app and use it to make contactless purchases at stores, in apps and on the web using their iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Apple Pay also works on the Mac, but only on the web.
→ How to see locations that accept Apple Pay on Apple Maps
The mobile payment service was supposed to arrive in Israel by the end of 2020, according to a November 2020 report which claimed Apple Pay would support the Isracard cards.
Isracard is comprised of four different companies: Isracard LTD, Europay LTD, Aminit LTD and American Express Israel. The same report alleged that rival Max and ICC were in talks with Apple about adding support for the Apple Pay feature.
But 2020 wrapped up without the promised launch.
In February 2021, The Verifier said that at least one of Israel’s major banks was preparing for an imminent Apple Pay launch that would eventually come just a few weeks later.
In March 2021, Apple Pay made its debut in South Africa.