Apple Pay

Nonprofits in U.S. now able to accept donations using Apple Pay

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 14, 2016

Apple announced that nonprofit organizations in the United States are now able to accept donations using Apple Pay. In the past, Apple accepted various charity donations via iTunes billing. With support for Apple Pay, donors now have one more option when sending money to various charities. Apple says a total of 19 U.S. nonprofits will start accepting Apple Pay donations starting this morning.

Some of them include household names such as American Red Cross, (RED), Save the Children, UNICEF and World Wildlife Fund. Other nonprofits will be implementing Apple Pay support over the coming months.

Apple promotes exclusive holiday offers available to users of Apple Pay on the web

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 19, 2018

Apple has set up a new webpage at apple.com/apple-pay/holiday/ which provides a list of exclusive holiday offers from a number of retailers that are available with Apple Pay on the web, which recently launched with built-in support for iOS 10 and macOS Sierra devices.

“Experience the fast and secure way to shop online with Apple Pay, now on the web in Safari,” reads Apple's notice, adding that would-be shoppers receive exclusive benefits such as free rush shipping, discounts and other rewards.

Commuters struggling to register their train passes following Japan’s Apple Pay launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 25, 2016

Following its official launch in Japan, Apple Pay has experienced a rocky debut in the 127 million people market as commuters struggled to register their train passes onto iPhones for more than ten hours amid apparent system overload.

Many people in Japan use their rail passes that double as electronic money cards.

According to Bloomberg, the trouble started shortly after 9am in Tokyo as users began reporting issues adding their cards to Apple Pay.

Apple Pay launches in Japan

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 24, 2016

Apple Pay today launched in Japan, one of Apple's most important markets and home to population of 127 million souls. Marking its twelfth major market, Apple Pay permits Japanese customers to make private credit and prepaid card purchases in stores, online and in apps, plus commute and pay for everyday items with Suica from JR East.

To support the service, Apple today issued the free iOS 10.1 software update which has enabled support for transit directions in Japan to help users find ride details, including fare breakdowns that automatically show Suica pricing on their device.

Apple Pay could launch in Germany soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 21, 2016

Apple Pay could launch in its fifth European country soon. As first discovered by German blog iPhone-ticker.de, Apple's support document highlighting participating banks and card issuers for Apple Pay in Europe appears to have accidentally highlighted Germany on a world map, suggesting the next possible expansion for the iPhone-driven service.

Apple Pay arrives in New Zealand, faces uphill battle as large banks continue to attempt lock out

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated December 13, 2017

New Zealand has just joined the ranks of Apple Pay enabled countries on Wednesday, following suit after neighbouring Australia finally introduced the service in May through ANZ Banking Group.

The foray was met with great customer praise in May, when ANZ became the first major bank in the region that decided to buck the trend of openly colluding with rival banks in an effort to prevent Apple Pay from hitting the shores. While Kiwis will undoubtedly be eager to embrace the technology, implementation is not likely to gather significant momentum until the same large players barring Apple Pay from the Australian market (most notably Commonwealth Bank, National Australian Bank, Westpac) come to an agreement over the cut Apple makes with every micro transaction and join ANZ in rolling out the service in both countries.

You can now buy a bus ticket with your Apple Watch in Switzerland

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

We just told you how Apple has been hard at work getting Apple Pay into more public transit systems and now a new report outlines how customers in Switzerland can purchase a bus ticket with a dedicated Apple Watch app that's integrated with Apple Pay. Swiss website Cominmag reports that the app in question, FAIRTIQ, files as the world's first app to bring the ticket vending machine on the Apple Watch.

Bloomberg: Apple working on getting Apple Pay into more public transit systems

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Apple has been working on getting its mobile payments system, which expanded into Russia earlier this month, into more public transit systems, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Thanks to FeliCa-compatible NFC chips inside iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 models sold in Japan, Apple Pay will be gaining support for Japanese railway JR East later this month through its dedicated Suica payment system.

Apple to unify its separate cloud services teams to improve Siri, Maps, iTunes, iCloud & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 6, 2016

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is reporting today that Apple is in the process of unifying its separate cloud services team in an effort to foster tighter collaboration between them, better compete with Google and Amazon in the cloud space and improve Siri, Maps, iTunes, iCloud and other services.

Eddy Cue, Apple's boss of Internet Software and Services, will oversee the effort to move cloud service engineering teams to a single campus as Apple continues shifting its cloud to its own infrastructure.

Apple Pay launches in Russia

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Apple's mobile payments service has officially launched in Russia, marking the tenth country where Apple Pay is now available. According to Reuters this morning, the service is available with support from MasterCard and Moscow-based Sberbank at launch. Users can add their credit or debit card to Apple Pay via the Wallet app on their iPhone or set up Apple Pay directly in the Sberbank Online mobile app.

Chick-fil-A to accept Apple Pay starting tomorrow

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 18, 2016

American fast food chain Chick-fil-A said on Twitter it's upgraded its registers and will start accepting Apple Pay payments tomorrow. Responding to an inquiry about NFC support, a company representative has confirmed that as of tomorrow, August 19, Apple Pay and Android Pay will be available for payment both in-restaurant and in the Drive Thru.

With Apple Pay support, Chick-fil-A customers will simply bring their iPhone or Apple Watch to the card reader to pay for their meal.

Apple Pay expands in Hong Kong with support from Amex, Visa and MasterCard

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 20, 2016

Apple Pay expansion in international markets has accelerated lately, with the mobile payment system launching in France yesterday and now, just 24 hours later, in Hong Kong. According to Apple Pay's Hong Kong website, the service is supported at launch by all three major credit card companies: Visa, American Express and MasterCard, with cards issued by Hang Seng Bank, Bank of China (Hong Kong), DBS Bank (Hong Kong), HSBC, Standard Chartered and AmEx.