Apple Pay May Be Expanding to Canada as Soon as March

[MacRumors]

Apple Pay has been exclusive to the United States since its launch last October, but it now appears Apple is preparing to take the mobile payments service international with an expansion to Canada as soon as this March. Citing sources "close to the situation," 9to5Mac reports Apple is currently in negotiations with Canadian partners, preparing and planning various promotional materials over the next few weeks for use during the upcoming launch.

Apple and Canadian launch partners are in the process of planning advertising and other promotional material for March, which indicates that the launch could come as soon as then. Of course, these are still active discussions and it's possible the talks could fail to result in a launch by March. Several sources, however, tell us Apple is currently targeting that timeframe.

International expansion of Apple Pay has been the subject of several rumors in recent months, but Apple has yet to make any official announcements about its plans. Apple Pay has, however, been growing steadily in the U.S. since its October launch, adding new banks, credit unions, and retail partners at a steady rate.

Rumors of a March launch for Apple Pay in Canada fall in line with the current rumor of the Apple Watch launching in the same month, although it is unclear whether Canada will be in the first wave of launch countries for Apple Watch as Apple's Canadian website says "Available in 2015" while the company's U.S. site mentions a more specific "Coming Early 2015." With the Apple Watch capable of supporting Apple Pay payments, however, it seems natural for Apple to be pushing forward on international expansion of the payments service as the watch's launch approaches.

Article Link: Apple Pay May Be Expanding to Canada as Soon as March

 

[XboxMySocks]

Guhhhhhhh. Please

 

[impulse462]

I'm still waiting for my bank to support it in the US..

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

Most terminals in large Canadian cities support NFC payments with credit cards so once this is in place I can see it being adopted rapidly.

 

[teslo]

Apple P'eh?

 

[ipedro]

My Scotiabank branch manager strongly hinted that I wouldn't have to wait too long. Looks like it's coming

 

[DudeDad]

It works great at Walgreen's. I was at Michael's, and their reader recognized it... the cashier had to type some code into the register and it was accepted, even though I didn't think Michael's was on the list. I wish more accepted it...works very well.

 

[Swazaloo]

Most terminals in large Canadian cities support NFC payments with credit cards so once this is in place I can see it being adopted rapidly.

Yes. I thought it became law like 8 years ago already.

 

[Corrode]

I don't own an iPhone 6, nor do I expect to purchase one or an Apple Watch, yet I'm still really excited about this. #applenerd

 

[xero9]

If this is true, this will be amazing.

I was thinking about it the other day that I could use it pretty much most places I shop. Get gas at Petro, stop for a bite to eat at Subway for lunch, grab a coffee from McDonald's or Tim's on the way home from work, stop at Metro, Sobey's, or RCSS for groceries.

That'll be the day!

 

[spenjere579]

I don't find this a surprise. I am a Cannadian and know a lot about the payment services here. In Canada almost everyone has a debit card, at the cafeteria in my high school they have debit machines and everyone uses debit cards. There is no fee with every transaction and everything goes through a company called Interac. So technically if Apple got a deal with Interac, every debit card would be compatible, and all of the debit machines already have NFC built in because we have NFC built into our debit cards and we tap out debit cards onto the machines. People have proven that Apple Pay works as long as you have aN American access card. They might have more success in Canada because of how common the NFC debit machines are, everywhere accepts debit but not everywhere accepts NFC, and of how many more people use debit cards. I have had a debit card since I was eight.

 

[stewy]

I'm happy to see this happening even though I don't own and iPhone. I'm hoping that support for Apple Pay in Canada will bring support for Google Wallet in Canada.

 

[age234]

I'm still waiting for my US regional bank to roll out Apple Pay. They told me it's coming, but I have no idea when.

 

[Jeff Meredith]

Spill Over Effect

Most terminals in large Canadian cities support NFC payments with credit cards so once this is in place I can see it being adopted rapidly.

This is great news for US visitors to Canada and I feel will put pressure on merchants in the border cities in the US that Canadians visit such as Boston, New York, Detroit, Buffalo and tourist spots such as Walt Disney World, already available.

And success in Canada will also help weaken whatever Merchant insecurities still exist, I am hoping.

I love the present race between Netherlands, UK and Canada to deploy Apple Pay. Once these pioneers have deployed their systems, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan can't be too far behind. It will be interesting to see how many countries are supported by the end of 2015. My guess is 12.

 

[Tech198]

Not much closer to home ... But It's good its on the move somewhere.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

How do I get my iTunes account amount on my Passbook?

 

[Newfiebill]

My TD Branch is Hinting

I have been with TD Canada for 20+ Years, I know the staff at my Branch very well and them me. It has been strongly rumored that TD Canada will be one of the first to jump on board (no surprise). I was told I won't have to wait much longer... Nice!

 

[xero9]

Not much closer to home ... But It's good its on the move somewhere.

While I'm in Canada and this is wonderful news for me, I agree that it should give some hope to other countries that they are rolling it out more so than iTunes Radio.

 

[gcooldude86]

Hoping this and the Apple Watch come to Canada in March, which would make sense.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

I was at Michael's, and their reader recognized it... the cashier had to type some code into the register and it was accepted, even though I didn't think Michael's was on the list. I wish more accepted it...works very well.

Do you know what code this was? I tried using it at Michaels once and the reader would recognize it but it went through as "-" meaning the transaction didn't work. The cashier was clueless so I didn't go any further.

 

[philipk]

This is great news!

I have family in Canada who love the idea of Apple Pay. Plus I vacation a few times a year there and it would be great to have official support.

Good going!

 

[xero9]

This is great news!

I have family in Canada who love the idea of Apple Pay. Plus I vacation a few times a year there and it would be great to have official support.

Good going!

If you're visiting Canada from the US it's business as usual for you. Official support by our banks or not, you can take advantage of the vast number of stores that accept NFC payments. This is what annoyed me the most (though I understand why the US was first). I used Apple Pay with my mother in law's card while I was there over the holidays. There were only two stores (Shaws and Subway) that accepted NFC payments. Here on the other hand, more places accept it than not (excluding very small mom and pop shops).

 

[AppleInLVX]

If for some weird reason the Royal doesn't have this at launch, I'll happily move to whatever bank does. Anything to reduce the number of things I need to carry around every day. Super handy.

 

[PsykX]

Awesome! I feel like we had been left out once again. Good things always happen in the USA first

But honestly, once Apple goes to any other bank in the world and says "but the banks in the USA accepted it...", the other banks can't argue and can only sign. Not saying they're the best banks in the world, but they're most certainly the biggest.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I haven't used Apple Pay a single time yet, but I got one of those iPhone 6+ Wallet cases that MacRumors mentioned in the iOS Blog. I'm quite a bit quicker paying for stuff now that my credit card is right there on my iPhone. Don't have to dig in my other pockets for my wallet and then flip through it for my credit card.

I realize it's not the same, but for people itching for the advantages of Apple Pay, the wallet case offers some of those same advantages (quicker, less stuff to carry around).