ANZ is first Australian bank to support Apple Pay
Apple Pay expanded services in Australia on Thursday local time with the addition of ANZ Bank, the first major financial institution in the region to support Apple's payments product after a limited rollout in November.
Announced via Apple's website, the new integration comes more than five months after an American Express partnership introduced Apple Pay to the Australian market last year.
"Our customers ... are much closer to being able to leave their wallets at home," Apple Pay chief Jennifer Bailey told Reuters in an interview today. She added that Apple is in discussions with other Australian banks and hopes the ANZ deal will spark demand in the sector.
When it launched in Australia, Apple Pay was limited to AmEx customers -- co-branded cards were not supported -- and those retailers with compliant wireless payments systems. With the new partnership, customers are able to provision ANZ Bank-issued Visa credit and debit cards, as well as ANZ AmEx cards.
Apple offers little guidance on what customers can expect in terms of future alliances, but the company's website still lists MasterCard as "coming soon."
Apple Pay debuted in 2014 with an initial rollout restricted to U.S. customers. Based on the NFC standard, Apple's touchless payments service is marketed as a safe and convenient alternative to physical wallets. Initial hardware support came in the form of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and has since been expanded to all current iPhone models, including the iPhone SE, and Apple Watch.
Following a domestic introduction, Apple Pay went live in the UK last July, later expanding to Canada in November and China in February.
Announced via Apple's website, the new integration comes more than five months after an American Express partnership introduced Apple Pay to the Australian market last year.
"Our customers ... are much closer to being able to leave their wallets at home," Apple Pay chief Jennifer Bailey told Reuters in an interview today. She added that Apple is in discussions with other Australian banks and hopes the ANZ deal will spark demand in the sector.
When it launched in Australia, Apple Pay was limited to AmEx customers -- co-branded cards were not supported -- and those retailers with compliant wireless payments systems. With the new partnership, customers are able to provision ANZ Bank-issued Visa credit and debit cards, as well as ANZ AmEx cards.
Apple offers little guidance on what customers can expect in terms of future alliances, but the company's website still lists MasterCard as "coming soon."
Apple Pay debuted in 2014 with an initial rollout restricted to U.S. customers. Based on the NFC standard, Apple's touchless payments service is marketed as a safe and convenient alternative to physical wallets. Initial hardware support came in the form of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and has since been expanded to all current iPhone models, including the iPhone SE, and Apple Watch.
Following a domestic introduction, Apple Pay went live in the UK last July, later expanding to Canada in November and China in February.
Comments
http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/15/11/11/apple-considering-person-to-person-payments-for-apple-pay---report
http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/16/01/21/munster-apple-pay-distribution-low-but-peer-to-peer-and-in-browser-payments-to-goose-adoption-in-2016
a) Employees aren't entrusted with privileged business information unless they're on the Board of directors and
b) Banks don't get exclusive arrangements that deliberately exclude other institutions unless they want to get slapped with an anti-competition lawsuit.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong... :-)
If it's ready, it could be announced at WWDC.
I was going to say that but frankly it does't really matter because I'd never go back to ANZ, their fees are ridiculous.
I'll stick to Co-Operative and hope they come through with the goods when Apple Pay comes to NZ.
*sulks*
I'm heading to ANZ to open an account this weekend.