Austria may get Apple Pay in 'coming months'

Posted:
in iPhone
Austria will finally get access to Apple Pay in "coming months," according to sources for one of the country's leading newspapers.

Vienna, Austria


Bank Austria could be one of the initial participating card issuers, said Der Standard. The paper didn't have any further details.

Apple Pay launched in the U.S. in October 2014, and has gradually expanded into over 20 countries. Austria is one of the more conspicuous gaps in Europe, apart from its neighbor Germany, which has the largest economy on the continent.

German banks have allegedly taken a tough stance with Apple. The company claims a small fee from each Apple Pay transaction, and banks in other regions have often tried to minimize that amount in negotiations. At the same time, public pressure and Apple's financial power have usually forced banks to succumb.

The most recent countries to gain support for the platform were Poland, Norway, and Brazil. The Polish launch appears to have been particularly remarkable, rapidly outpacing Google Pay.

Apple opened its first retail store in Austria on Feb. 24, located on Vienna's Kaerntner Strasse.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    Christian SchuhChristian Schuh Posts: 2unconfirmed, member
    Finally.

    In the meantime, boon. Ireland is a suitable workaround. Signing up is a bit cumbersome. But once you have it, Apple Pay works like a charm. NFC terminals are ubiquitous in Austria. Never understood why it took Apple so long in the first place.

    Maybe we can hope for Apple Watch LTE as well ...
  • Reply 2 of 10
    Germany, Germany....
  • Reply 3 of 10
    plovellplovell Posts: 824member
    pakitt said:
    Germany, Germany....
    Indeed. That would be great.

    But I am surprised at how much cash is still used in Germany. Some stores and restaurants are cash-only, no cards accepted.
    caladanianspheric
  • Reply 4 of 10
    smiffy31smiffy31 Posts: 202member
    This has very little to do with Apple, There is no interest for them to go slowly, it is all about the big slow monopolistic banking institutions. I'm sure the banks are all working at their own pace, some even working on their own contactless systems/applications.
    As the previous poster says Some countries have lots of different banks which have to be signed up one by one, and some prefer using cash.

  • Reply 5 of 10
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Austrian kangaroos and koalas will put in their dirndls and line up to use this.

    ”Throw another sausage on the barbie, mates!”
    edited July 2018
  • Reply 6 of 10
    riverkoriverko Posts: 222member
    smiffy31 said:
    This has very little to do with Apple, There is no interest for them to go slowly, it is all about the big slow monopolistic banking institutions. I'm sure the banks are all working at their own pace, some even working on their own contactless systems/applications.
    As the previous poster says Some countries have lots of different banks which have to be signed up one by one, and some prefer using cash.

    Well, as an insider from a bank in Czech republic - we have totally no influence on when and how Apple decides to open Apple Pay for us. That’s the reason why the banks here created their own mobile wallets - waiting for GooglePay/ApplePay was simply too long. Of course, there is no solution for Apple users in terms of ApplePay replacment. So we are really waiting for the day Apple says - let’s go sign contracts
  • Reply 7 of 10
    JanNLJanNL Posts: 327member
    Austrian kangaroos and koalas will put in their dirndls and line up to use this.

    ”Throw another sausage on the barbie, mates!”
      Not that many kangaroos in Austria  ;)
  • Reply 8 of 10
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    JanNL said:
    Austrian kangaroos and koalas will put in their dirndls and line up to use this.

    ”Throw another sausage on the barbie, mates!”
      Not that many kangaroos in Austria  ;)

  • Reply 9 of 10
    Yawn...
  • Reply 10 of 10
    Yawn...

    Dammit man! Do you have to yawn in plain view??
    spheric
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