Canadian Launch For Apple Pay Set Soon

Apple Pay is set to become available in Canada soon. According to the iPhone in Canada, American Express customer representatives sad the service is set to be launched in Canada on Tuesday. CEO Tim Cook of Apple said last month that the payment service of the company will be made available in Canada and Australia for American Express customers before the end of the year.

The mobile payment service was launched in the United States by Apple last fall. It is the first effort of the company in entering the contactless mobile payments market. It was launched in the United Kingdom in July. Customers can use the payment services using an iPhone 6 or Apple Watch through near-field communication technology at supported retailers. In-app purchases can also be made by iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3 and Mini 4 owners.

The company has been promoting the payment service to more retailers and banks in the United States. It will be necessary for Apple Pay to expand to more countries in order for it to increase its share in the market. This is essential to allow the company to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors, like Android Pay and Samsung Pay.

Canadian Launch For Apple Pay Set Soon - image credit: techcrunch.com

The main issue is the fee collected by the company for every transaction. In the United States, a 0.15 percent share is taken by the company when the service is used for credit card transactions. A number of banks in other countries backed out due to the fee.

Apple has reportedly been in discussions with the six biggest Canadian banks for a November launch of Apple Pay. However, it would be necessary for Apple to work with these banks and other major credit card companies since negotiations have been dragging for some time already.

American Express, which is working with Apple, represents a small percentage of all Canadian credit card transactions and no banks in Canada are offering American Express Cards that can use the payment service. Due to this, Apple is working directly with American Express to gain a foothold in Canada.

After its launch in Canada and Australia, Apple Pay is set to become available to American Express cardholders in Singapore, Hong Kong and Spain by 2016.

Posted by George Daniels on Tuesday November 17 2015, 7:19 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Technology. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0