Tag: apple mobile payments

The iOS based mobile payments system will be making the leap north from the United States this year.

According to recent reports in the Wall Street Journal, Apple Pay is preparing to launch in a new market before the end of 2015, as it gets itself ready to step north into Canada for a November roll out.

The mobile payments service is already available in the United States, but it has yet to head anywhere else.

iOS device users in other countries may have been waiting to be able to use Apple Pay, but since it was first launched in October 2014, it has been available exclusively in the United States. Now, it looks as though it will become available in other countries, or at least one more, as it will be opening up in Canada this year. Six of the major banks in Canada have been reported to be in talks with Apple with regards to its wireless, contactless mobile payments system.

Despite the fact that Apple Pay is associated with higher fees, it does look as though Canadian banks are ready to support it.

The banks with which Apple has been discussing its mobile payments include: TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, CIBC, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, and the National Bank of Canada. These are some extremely influential institutions over the Canadian marketplace, when it is taken into account that they make up more than 90 percent of all bank accounts in the country.

These banks have indicated that they are prepared to support the smartphone based payments services from Apple, regardless of the fact that there have been some serious concerns expressed about higher fees and even some security problems.

The country is virtually ready, already, with the technology and infrastructure that would be required or the implementation of Apple Pay, as a vast number of the country’s businesses and retailers have already implemented the type of contactless terminals that would be needed to make the service work for iPhone (and Apple Watch) users. The country was among the first to broadly adopt chip-and-PIN tech as well as credit card NFC technology based tap-and-pay terminals.

Apple Pay may provide more momentum to the European payments sector

Mobile payments are likely to gain momentum with the inevitable expansion of Apple Pay. Though Apple has not yet brought its new mobile payments service to markets outside of the United States, the early success of the service makes it likely that expansion is in the future. Europe is one of the most attractive mobile markets in the world, with high smartphone penetration and an expansive mobile Internet infrastructure. Consumers in many European countries are using their devices to purchase products.

Report suggests that companies are taking steps to prepare for Apple Pay

In preparation for Apple Pay’s potential expansion to Europe, many companies are beginning to improve their own mobile services. A new report from IHS Technology notes that these companies are becoming more mobile-centric, hoping to position themselves so they can benefit from the launch of Apple Pay and other mobile payments services. Visa is one such company, which is expanding tokenization throughout Europe. This involves the use of digital tokens to replace financial information, making mobile transactions significantly more secure.

European consumers may show favor for Apple Pay

Apple has the potential to cause some disruption in Europe’s mobile market. There are several mobile payments solutions available to consumers throughout Europe, but Apple Pay has managed to generate a great deal of hype before even launching in this region. If the service does come to Europe, consumers are likely to abandon the mobile payments solutions they currently use in order to use Apple Pay, at least for a time. Retailers may also opt to use Apple Pay as a way to support mobile transactions.

Apple will face competition in the mobile payments space

Competition is likely to be fierce for Apple and the company is not likely to dominate the mobile payments field without a fight. Samsung recently announced that it will be launching its own mobile payments service in the near future, which will appeal to those with Android devices. Apple’s service is only available for iOS devices, and of those only the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus can make use of the service at this time.