Like everybody, I was really excited when Apple released Apple Pay to the public in October of 2014. The idea of paying for physical goods or services, in a store, with my iPhone felt like the future we had been promised was finally available.
Fast-forward eighteen months, and I am now facing the sad realization that I barely use Apple Pay. It’s not entirely Apple’s fault either.
Apple Pay has gained support for credit and debit cards from the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), with the exception of the ANZ MasterCard cards and corporate cards, Reuters has confirmed yesterday.
Following the initial launch of Apple Pay in Australia with support from American Express back in November 2015, Apple Pay is currently available in a total of six major markets: The United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, Australia, China and Singapore.
Through launch partnership with American Express, customers in Singapore can now take advantage of Apple's mobile payment system to pay for goods and services in stores with a touch of their finger. Adding Singapore to the list of countries that support Apple Pay was advertised earlier today on the local Apple Pay website in Singapore.
Local retailers like FairPrice, Starbucks, TopShop, TopMan, StarHub, Shaw Theaters and several others will now take Apple Pay as a form of payment. In the coming months, outlets like 7 Eleven, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Food Republic and Toast Box will roll out support for Apple Pay in the 5.4 million people country.
Apple's mobile payment solution for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch will be coming to mobile websites later this year, reports Re/code. The technology blog explains that people will be able to pay for goods and services purchased in online stores through the Safari browser on iPhones and iPads that possess Apple’s TouchID fingerprint technology.
Apple Pay is currently supported in physical retail stores and select third-party apps that have elected to implement support for the technology with In-App Purchases, but not on websites. If true, this move will aim Apple Pay squarely at the likes of PayPal, Square and other established online payments service providers.
Thursday, a photo of what appears to be Chinese packaging for Apple's upcoming four-inch iPhone refresh was posted on Chinese social network Weibo.
The image allegedly shows the specifications sticker affixed to the box for the upcoming device while specifically mentioning 'iPhone SE' branding.
The '16GB' label on the sticker suggests that the iPhone SE will start out at sixteen gigabytes of storage, just like current iPhone models do. Additionally, the technical specifications section mentions Apple Pay compatibility, meaning the iPhone SE will include NFC, like previously suspected.
Oil giant ExxonMobil is rolling out support for Apple Pay to 6,000 gas stations within its Speedpass+ app for the iPhone and iPad. The in-app feature lets customers pay for fuel at the pump with their iPhone by selecting Apple Pay as a payment option. Availability will reach more than 8,000 Exxon- and Mobil-branded stores by mid-year, said the company.
Hands Free, a new Google app for iOS and Android, allows you to pay for in-store purchases without even pulling a smartphone out of your pocket. The Internet giant said that they're piloting the new app so for the time being it's available to South Bay residents.
Those who would test the app shall be treated to up to $5 off their first Hands Free purchase at participating stores, which include a small number of McDonald’s, Papa John’s and local eateries in the area.
According to French outlet Les Echos, Apple will be bringing its mobile payment solution to France, a 66 million people country, by the end of this year. Citing several sources familiar with the matter, the publication reports that a handful of major French banks and financial institutions are in the process of finalizing talks with Apple on supporting Apple Pay by the end of the year, assuming the two parties will come to terms regarding Apple's commission on each transaction.
The official launch of Apple Pay in China didn't go as smoothly as hoped as a lot of users faced problems trying to link their credit cards to their accounts. According to local reports collected by Mashable, Apple may have underestimated the demand from China as its servers struggled to keep up with a huge rush of people trying to sign up for the service.
In a move that could really help open up the market for Apple Pay, Apple just announced that its mobile payment service has expanded to China, the 1.33 billion people market.
“You can now support Apple Pay for your customers in China, providing an easy, secure, and private way for them to pay using their China UnionPay credit and debit cards,” reads an update on Apple's portal for developers.
Both Bank Of America and Wells Fargo are working on integrating Apple Pay into their ATMs, reports TechCrunch. The outlet says it has learned that ATM engineers from the two companies have been placed on assignments to build out support for Apple's digital wallet.
When questioned, Wells Fargo's head of ATMs Jonathan Velline implied that the report holds water, telling TechCrunch his team has been working on the technology that will allow the bank to hook into digital wallets to replace the need for cards during ATM transactions.
Barclays, a large British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, has confirmed that it will be rolling out support for Apple Pay sometime in late March.
In an email dated January 12 and sent to customer Oli Foster-Burnell, a copy of which was shared on Twitter and obtained by Engadget, Barclays CEO of Personal and Corporate Banking Ashok Vaswani said they will launch Apple Pay “within the next 60 to 75 days”.