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Apple Partnering With American Express to Bring Apple Pay to Canada, Australia, Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong

I haven't used Amex in over 20 years.

We need VISA and Mastercard to come on board. The banks let Paypal get a slice of the pie so why not Apple Pay ?
 
tmiw said:
AmEx has challenges right now, sure, but them folding? That sounds like hyperbole. (Also I thought they just lost Costco in Canada and the US.)
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Yes as unlikely as it seems not one but two American Corporate Icons are teetering on the brink of collapse.

1) American Express
2) McDonalds
 
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The issue in Australia is not the amount of retailer's that accept Amex - it is how many people have an Amex card. Barely anyone I know has an Amex, so even if it was accepted at 100% of retailers, it doesn't mean anything to the majority who don't have one, and I doubt people will sign up for one just for Apple Pay. They need to partner with the banks.
 
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locksmack said:
The issue in Australia is not the amount of retailer's that accept Amex - it is how many people have an Amex card. Barely anyone I know has an Amex, so even if it was accepted at 100% of retailers, it doesn't mean anything to the majority who don't have one, and I doubt people will sign up for one just for Apple Pay. They need to partner with the banks.
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Sounds like AmEx might end up with a lot more customers, then.
 
newdeal said:
I am guessing canadian banks are holding it up and so they can do Amex because Amex doesn't operate through banks in Canada. Unfortunately most retailers have tap to pay in Canada and most of them also don't accept Amex cards due to the high fees and low penetration in the canadian market
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I never have a problem using my Amex. Where do you shop?
 
This is brilliant - I push about $4000+ per month through my Amex card - the only things that Visa is used si things like utilities, rates, etc that wont take Amex. I would sya that 90% of the places I shop - for more than 90% of my spend - take Amex. I must live in a different Australia to some people here...
 
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Kajje said:
No one in Asia uses Amex.

The last time I've heard about Amex was when an overseas friend of me wanted to pick up the tab and the waiter came back telling their swiper didn't accept Amex. Ended up joining the waiter to the back to swipe my VISA instead. They had at least 5 different swipe machines, in every color of the rainbow. Not one accepting Amex.
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It doesn't matter how many machines that they have, or what flavours they are - any given retailer has a merchant agreement with their processor, and that determines which cards they can accept. Any restaurant that doesn't take Amex is insane IMHO.
 
mattyu007 said:
I'm pretty sure it's well above 75% or 80% who don't accept Amex. And since Costco switched its card from Amex to MasterCard, everyone I know who had an Amex card has cancelled their cards and switched to either MasterCard or Visa.

This joke is even more frustrating than no announcement at all.
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I work in the payments industry. I'm pretty sure that you are wrong about your percentages.
 
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Crzyrio said:
AMEX is accepted at 90% of the places I shop.

Technically speaking:

if a retailer supports EMV contactless payments and also supports Amex non-contactless as a form of payment, then you can use Apple Pay.

The reason there are places where Amex Tap & Pay doesn't work is because Amex was a bit late to the game with introducing their tap to pay solution. So when it came out there were already tap and pay terminals not taking into account AMEX.

Apple Pay with Amex will be useable at any tap and pay terminal.
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If they don't support Amex contactless, it won't work with Amex on Apple Pay. The same issue is in the UK.
 
garirry said:
Since when did contactless cards required a fingerprint scan for security? They literally have zero security those cards.
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You really need to do some research into how contactless payments are implemented on EMV cards. Even a simple nfc reader can spit back the card number, cardholder name, a list of recent transactions, etc. Contactless payments the way they are now are arguably less secure than magstripes.
 
ericpwb said:
You really need to do some research into how contactless payments are implemented on EMV cards. Even a simple nfc reader can spit back the card number, cardholder name, a list of recent transactions, etc. Contactless payments the way they are now are arguably less secure than magstripes.
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Uh, that's exactly what I said. I was sarcastic. I meant to say those methods of payment are much less secure than Apple Pay due to the lack of encryption.
 
xero9 said:
Number of places that accept Amex is lower than any other card, but the brutal part is the number of tap and pay readers that also take Amex.
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Exactly. I used to have a Costco AmEx card. merchant acceptance in general was very low, WAY lower than MC and Visa. and I remember as an experiment trying to find a place where NCF Amex payments were enabled. It didn't work ANYWHERE. The only place I did find where it worked was Canadian Tire. that was it. One place out of many I tried. and I live in Toronto btw. This was about a year ago but I doubt things changed much since then. so I'm pretty sure Apple Pay will be mostly useless in Canada even if you do get an AmEX card that supports it. Apple really needs to work it out with the banks so that MC and Visa start supporting it.
 
Pay with AMEX is a start. I read in the Financial Post that a few of the larger banks are looking at setting up their own systems. Happy Apple at least will introduce it here. Hopefully other banks will give up on their own payment systems and join in.

Amex acceptance is fine in Halifax and when I travel elsewhere. It is my #1 card with great support and a lot of perks. My US card from HSBC just came aboard with Pay this month. We will be set in the US and in Canada.

Now I am hoping for HSBC Master Card and CIBC Visa to join Pay.
 
tasset said:
Wait... are you seriously trying to say that it's the cost of doing business with Apple that is preventing small banks/credit unions from participating in NFC secure payments? Look at some of the small potato credit unions on this list.
Eaton Family Credit Union
First Bank of Newton
East Texas Professional Credit Union
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204916

You either have an ax to grind with Apple or are willfully ignoring banks' bigger issues why they aren't participating. Size isn't one of them.
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*cough* none of these are in the UK *cough*
 
rhodesy22 said:
I use my AMEX in Australia for 90% of transactions and get more points because of it...it certainly has less support than MC or Visa but to say it's not accepted in the majority of places is ridiculous. Sadly my AMEX was issued by Westpac so I imagine it won't be supported.
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Amex is not accepted in the majority of places in Australia.
 
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I agree - it's a start.

All five Canadian banks have a good thing going with little competition between them. So long an they all band together over drinks at the National Club and none of them introduce use :apple:Pay - it'll never come to Canada.

At the very least this puts pressure on one of them to crack. Once one does - they all will.
 
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bunnahabhain said:
I never have a problem using my Amex. Where do you shop?
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Costco, Shoppers Drugmart, Loblaws, Home hardware, fast food places at the UofT, Kensington market, Chinatown. not one of these places accept AmEx. granted, not many places in Kensigton and Chinatown take credit cards at all but the ones that do don't take AmEx. I also shop at Metro which does take AmEx but not for NFC transactions.
 
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Based on what I'm seeing in Singapore, most PayWave/Pass readers seem to accept AMEX. Even taxis take them, though with a premium surcharge.

AMEX support will hopefully make local banks interested in supporting Apple Pay. According to the local paper - Singapore's largest bank, DBS, seems to be quite interested - though smaller ones might be more hesitant.

http://business.asiaone.com/news/banks-look-apple-pay-gamechanger

If they aren't supporting Apple Pay anytime soon, perhaps some individuals might consider a prepaid debit like AMEX imagine? I'd rather wait, however.
 
I don't know why so many people are saying that nobody in Canada uses American Express. I use mine here all the time. My favorite feature is that it doubles the manufacturer warranty on things you buy, so no need to pay for extended warranties. Also I use the Front Of The Line feature to get advanced tickets to concerts. Plus I get cash back on all of my purchases as well.

I hope the other banks get on board soon and will also allow debit cards to be used instead of just credit. I think with TD leaking their website, it shouldn't be much longer now.
 
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