Tag: mobile payments apple

Apple Pay could launch in Canada by the end of the year

Apple Pay may finally be ready to expand beyond the U.S. market. Recent reports suggest that Canadian banks have been in negotiations concerning Apple Pay and, if successful, these negotiations could bring the mobile payments service to Canada by the end of this year. The service has managed to gain popularity in the United States market because of its convenient nature and security features. The demand for mobile payments services like Apple Pay has been on the rise in Canada for some time.

Those with newer iOS devices will be able to use Apple Pay

If Apple Pay launches in Canada, iOS users in the country will be able to use the service to pay for products in physical stores that support  mobile payments and online. The problem, however, is that the service is only compatible with the latest version of the iPhone: The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. While iOS fans are often quick to purchase the latest iteration of the iPhone, many consumers do not have these devices, which will leave them outside of the reach of Apple Pay until they purchase new devices.

Banks have concerns regarding Apple Pay fees

Though banks are showing interest in Apple Pay, they have also expressed concerns regarding Apple’s fee proposals and how to set up the mobile payments service securely. Apple Pay uses biometric technology to secure transactions. Users have to register their fingerprint through their iOS device in order to authenticate payments. Because of this, the service is considered quite secure, but Apple imposes fees on all transactions made through the service, which may be a point of contention for some merchants and banks.

Apple will find competition in the Canadian market

If the security and monetary concerns of banks are resolved, Apple Pay is likely to launch in Canada by the end of 2015. It will not be the only mobile payments service available in the country, of course, as there are many startup services that have launched in Canada over the past few years. Other companies, such as Samsung, also have plans to launch their own payment platforms, which they plan to bring to Canada as well.

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.