Apple Pay launches in Australia with limited card & retailer support
On Thursday local time Apple launched Apple Pay in Australia, relying on the same American Express partnership it used to introduce the platform to Canada earlier in the week.
No co-branded cards are currently supported, and only stores equipped for AmEx wireless payments are accepting transactions. This does include major chains though, among them Coles, Harvey Norman, Starbucks, Woolworths, and others.
Like Canada, Australia is typically better-equipped than the U.S. for wireless payments. Related technologies such as chip cards have been common in the region for some time.
The same AmEx deal should bring Apple Pay to Spain, Hong Kong, and Singapore sometime in 2016. Also due next year is support for more merchants, including Domino's Pizza and Cinnabon.
AmEx isn't a popular card brand outside of the U.S., but Apple Pay head Jennifer Bailey recently explained that the company functions as both a card issuer and payment network operator. That makes it a convenient spearhead, even if Apple will need partners like Visa and MasterCard to have much global reach.
No co-branded cards are currently supported, and only stores equipped for AmEx wireless payments are accepting transactions. This does include major chains though, among them Coles, Harvey Norman, Starbucks, Woolworths, and others.
Like Canada, Australia is typically better-equipped than the U.S. for wireless payments. Related technologies such as chip cards have been common in the region for some time.
The same AmEx deal should bring Apple Pay to Spain, Hong Kong, and Singapore sometime in 2016. Also due next year is support for more merchants, including Domino's Pizza and Cinnabon.
AmEx isn't a popular card brand outside of the U.S., but Apple Pay head Jennifer Bailey recently explained that the company functions as both a card issuer and payment network operator. That makes it a convenient spearhead, even if Apple will need partners like Visa and MasterCard to have much global reach.
Comments
question... does the iOS 'fan' spin counter clockwise in Australia?
[IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/65464/width/400/height/800[/IMG]
I see amex getting a lot of business out of this. Certainly since they're not well used and seemingly in decline in Australia.
...or even better the uk. Contactless chip and pin terminals mean that even rural corner shops accept Apple Pay. Completely love it, but interestingly really poorly understood by non-Apple watchers. I spend a lot of time at work explaining the benefits and helping people register their cards. However, we've now created our own modest Apple Pay enclave. Once people try it then there is no stopping them. A couple of weekends ago I had an Apple Pay only weekend (even works for all London Underground and buses) - I don't think it will be long before I can jettison cards. Only issues - the totally illogical £30 limit (given that Apple Pay is more secure than chip and pin or over the phone purchases - how does it make any sense) and battery life. On the second issue the fact the watch Apple Pay works without the phone has pretty much removed that issue.
What does "limited support" mean? That there are few NFC terminals where ApplePay can be used?
For me, it really doesn't matter whether the terminal says "ApplePay" or not: as long as I can use my Watch or iPhone, I don't mind the extra couple of seconds to hit 'credit' and sign if/as needed. It is by far the most brilliant way to pay. Paying with the Watch, in particular, still gets me six months later.....
100% agree with the watch comment and also how many shop staff comment as well.
What does "limited support" mean? That there are few NFC terminals where ApplePay can be used?
I think they mean there's few merchants that take Amex.
You got that right GTR ! C'mon guys implement Apple Pay, geez
Source wiki: "In Australia, the "big four banks" refers to the four largest banks[3] by market share, who between them hold 80% of the home loan markets in the country. In 2012, their combined total asset is A$2.66 trillion, which is about 200% of Australian GDP in 2011. In order of size, these are:
Commonwealth Bank (CBA) (government owned until 1996)
Westpac (WBC)
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ)
National Australia Bank (NAB)
A longstanding policy of the federal government in Australia has been to maintain this status quo, called the "four pillars policy". The policy has been maintained through the Global Recession of 2008–09, as Westpac acquired St.George Bank and the Commonwealth Bank acquired Bankwest, reinforcing the special status of the "big four".
Being New Zealand's closest neighbour, with very close ties culturally and economically, has helped Australia dominate the banking sector there. Often referred to collectively as the 'big banks'[4][5][6] or the 'big Aussie banks', the "Big Four" Australian banks also dominate the New Zealand banking sector in the form of:
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, or ANZ, also comprising the former business of The National Bank.
ASB Bank, formerly Auckland Savings Bank, wholly owned by the Commonwealth Bank
The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ), wholly owned by the National Australia Bank
Westpac, formerly known as WestpacTrust after a merger with the Trust Bank.
Together they hold over 90% of gross loans and advances in New Zealand [7] as well as close to 90% of all mortgages.[8]
These four subsidiaries are massively profitable and in some cases even outperform the Australian parent company.[9] The extent to which they dominate the banking sector can be seen in profits: In the 2012/2013 financial year, the largest of the Big Banks, ANZ New Zealand, made a profit of NZ$1.37 billion. The smallest, BNZ, made a profit of NZ$695 million.[4] State-owned Kiwibank, community trust-owned TSB Bank, SBS Bank (formerly Southland Building Society) and Heartland Bank, the next four largest banks by profit, made NZ$97 million,[10] NZ$73.5 million,[11] NZ$14 million[12] and NZ$7 million (albeit with an underlying result of about NZ$30 million) respectively.[13] In other words, the profit of New Zealand's next four largest banks (after the Big Four) is equal to less than 30% of the smallest of the Big Four, BNZ."
:no::no:
It's not so much co-branded cards that are not supported yet, only bank-issued cards (because banks are yet to come to an agreement with Apple). Co-branded cards issued directly from AMEX such as Qantas, Virgin and David Jones work no problems.
"Limited retailer support" makes it sound like only a few stores are accepting it out of the gate. Contactless payment terminals are so widespread here that it's anything but limited. The reality is that you're only going to run into problems because some stores don't accept AMEX due to the high fees they charge merchants.
It's so widespread that Apple doesn't even bother listing supported Australian retailers, as is also the case in the UK.
Maybe it'd help to have a local who knows what the actual situation is.
Maybe if they charged lower merchant fees there'd be higher take up. I only use my AMEX card at places I know accept it without additional fees.
A lot of people don't bother with AMEX because you often have to ask if a retailer accepts them or if they charge the customer a transaction fee for using them.
Anyway, just paid with Apple Pay. Worked exactly as it was supposed to. Very boring. The cashier didn't even blink.
I thought, since Australian interchange fees are lower than the US, the margins were quite tight for the banks, but it seems they're about 83c per $100. Apple's cut still leaves them with 68c per $100 in a billion dollar market, and it's not like Apple are going to take up even the majority of their payments.
Anyway, just paid with Apple Pay. Worked exactly as it was supposed to. Very boring. The cashier didn't even blink.
http://www.visa.com.au/aboutvisa/interchange/interchange.shtml
more like .275% if we're talking about the same thing.
On that assumption taking more than half that cut, *and* giving up sales data, it's obvious where that would be heading.
I bought my 5S, then 6, then 6s specifically to get access to Apple Pay when it became available through MC/VISA but the longer this drags the more I realise that tap and go is more and more entrenched (the ATMs do it now FFS) and no-one gives a turd about Apple Pay when it's stupid easy to simply tap and go. Fraud is a 'so what' thing when bank offers to eat the cost.
sorry for the run on sentence.