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

[SactoGuy18]

I think the next step for Apple Pay after partnering with American Express for better international usage is the possibility they may update Apple Pay itself to support something akin to the NTT docomo Osaifu-Keitai NFC mobile payment standard. That way, Apple Pay can integrate mobile payment systems such as Mobile Suica, Nanaco and Rakuten Edy already in wide use in Japan.

 

[Bocca013]

Come on Westpac, get onto it and get Apple Pay happening so I can use my Debit MasterCard with my iPhone 6

 

[s1m]

Amex is not accepted in the majority of places in Australia.

It is accepted in all Woolworths, Coles and associated petrol stations. That is not a bad start.

 

[mariachi4]

Good to hear that Apple Pay is coming to Hong Kong, but wait...AMEX? Why this card won't die? I thought only Americans use that card.

 

[GristlyBear]

Having read through the Canada comments.... I'm an American that goes to Montréal often. I've used my ApplePay in Montréal at pizza places, drug stores, supermarkets, ... you name it. My preferred card even in Canada is American Express. (If you use the right Amex Card there is no exchange surcharge.)

Amex is accepted at Apple (of course), Starbucks, Canadian Tire, Rogers, Telus, most restaurants, gas stations, Air Canada, the list goes on. Yes I've run into a few places like LoBlaws, IGA, Pharmaprix ... that do not take Amex. I would have to say that around 25% of the time I need to use my Apple Pay with a Visa card. C'est la vie.

The interesting thing to note is that the limit on NFC payments including Apple Pay, varies by merchant. IGA only allows NFC up to $100 CDN, the local butch shop had no limit (didn't try over $300 though).

 

[DARKiLLUSiON]

I don't understand what's with the excuse from the big 5..I've tweeted them about it and the same robotic responses "Apple Pay is not currently available in Canada. We will evaluate it when it does." honestly what is there to evaluate when you got people asking to use it?

 

[JoJack82]

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.

Every Shoppers Drug Mart and Home Hardware that I have been to take Amex. I have never run into a fast foot restaurant that doesn't take Amex, granted I have never tried at the UofT campus.

 

[ipedro]

I'll be happy to sign up for an AMEX if it means I can start paying with my AppleWatch. I've been thinking of getting one for the Ticketmaster perks (early access to concert tickets).

Scotiabank issues AMEX. I can easily set up an auto payment to deduct money from my Scotiabank account into my AMEX which means it'll function as if ApplePay were connected to a debit card.

 

[V.K.]

Every Shoppers Drug Mart and Home Hardware that I have been to take Amex. I have never run into a fast foot restaurant that doesn't take Amex, granted I have never tried at the UofT campus.

I live in downtown Toronto. Shoppers Drugmart next to my house doesn't take AmEx (at least it didn't a year ago when I still had an AmEx from Costco). There are two Home hardware stores within half a mile of my house and neither one takes AmEx. several coffee shops near my house don't take it. Starbucks in my building at work doesn't take it. another small fast food place in the same building doesn't take it. All of these take MC and have "tap" enabled. And as I said even those places like Metro that do take AmEx don't support NFC AmEX payments.

 

[ipedro]

If banks in Canada don't sign on to Apple Pay, it'll just be another indication of how they're resistant to innovation.

I'm looking forward to the day that Square allows me to keep my money with them instead of transferring it to a bank account. Square could then be used to make purchases either through Apple Pay or pay off credit cards.

I'd immediately cancel my accounts with Scotiabank and TD if a technology driven bank like Simple were to enter the market here.

 

[haruhiko]

Woohoo! Hong Kong finally. I have an American Express Card that's seldom used.

 

[paulyras]

This is great news. Amex is my go-to card, as I get tons of Singapore Air miles with it. In SG, I would say 90+% of vendors accept it. Also, contactless payment terminals are completely ubiquitous here, so uptake will be quick I would expect.

What I think most people are missing is that in one shot, AMEX gives deep access to quite a few countries which would be hard to do with most banks / credit card companies. In order to offer for visa and MC, it would have to be bank by bank, meaning the posts instead would be whining about why people's individual banks were behind the times. This will also kick starts things so I'm sure before too long Citibank, ANZ, HSBC, etc... will be on board too here (and in other countries they serve).

My only hope is that they enable it for access to the MRT system as I believe they have in London so I can get rid of my EZ Link card and use my watch / phone- Truly one less thing to carry around.

 

[ipedro]

I spoke with my neighbour who's a Moneris rep. He said that Apple's negotiations with banks stalled over commission rates. They were set to go technology-wise but they just wouldn't agree to paying Apple what they wanted per transaction.

I love how Apple just said: "ok, fine" and is bringing Apple Pay to Canada anyway with AMEX completely sidelining the banks who lose out on processing fees and credit card related profits.

 

[dotnet]

90% of people in Australia don't use Amex on a daily basis.

Citation needed.

The major retail outlets (Woolworth, Coles, K-Mart, Big-W, Myer, Bunnings, etc.) all accept Amex without extra fees, and that's what I use to pay there (twice the rewards points ). Many others accept Amex but charge extra for it.

EDIT: Oops, forgot to mention Dan Murphy's – how could I?

 

[DARKiLLUSiON]

I spoke with my neighbour who's a Moneris rep. He said that Apple's negotiations with banks stalled over commission rates. They were set to go technology-wise but they just wouldn't agree to paying Apple what they wanted per transaction.

I love how Apple just said: "ok, fine" and is bringing Apple Pay to Canada anyway with AMEX completely sidelining the banks who lose out on processing fees and credit card related profits.

They seriously need to get their act together otherwise I don't see Apple Pay happening any time soon(banks not from AMEX)

 

[dotnet]

I haven't used Amex in over 20 years.

Here's a another data point: I haven't used Visa in 20 years.

What now?

 

[Smigit]

Amex is not accepted in the majority of places in Australia.

Maybe, maybe not, but it is accepted at the places people are likely to do some shopping.

Namely Coles, Woolworths, Aldi (they surcharge, but they also surcharge all credit cards), Costco, Myer, DJ's, Big W, Target, Kmart and many of the other larger retailers, major fast food chains as well as petrol stations.

Smaller boutique places and cafes won't always accept it or will add a surcharge or min spend, but that can to a lesser extent apply to Mastercard and Visa as well.

As an Amex owner I can probably use it for about 70 - 80% of my purchasing without any surcharges. For about 10 - 20% of my purchases I use my Mastercard to avoid avoid surcharges and the rest is probably cafe's where I use cash because I don't hit a minimum spend anyway.

In any event, Amex may be less widely accepted than Mastercard and Visa, but it's accepted at the places where people are likely to do a lot of their spending. I wouldn't have an Amex without a backup Mastercard in Australia, but I do find it pretty rare that I need to use my Mastercard.

 

[zehoo]

I don't see Australian banks giving Apple a slice of their pie any time soon. Nor do I see Apple allowing Australian banks to access the NFC chip in the iPhone to bypass Apple pay any time soon.

 

[a0me]

Hopefully the banks of Australia suck up their pride and give in soon after.

At the rate things are going you guys will probably get it before Japan, despite us having the highest proportion of NFC-enabled POS and the highest iPhone market share in the world...

 

[Private_Joker]

I'm Canadian and I don't think I know a single person using an American Express credit card.

Here half of retailers accepting credit cards don't accept Amex, which makes it not super useful. Everybody seems to be using Visa or MasterCard.

This is also not useful for Americans visiting Canada since they could already use ApplePay here.

So yeah, it's pretty pointless... I'd be curious to know if this is also the case for the other listed countries.

Same opinion in Spain!!

 

[nicho]

Just a point a few people seem to have missed; the story says eligible American Express customers. Going by what this means in the US and UK, i'd have thought this means American Express issued cards only (ie not an AMEX card with anyone else's name on it)

 

[njmh]

Hopefully the banks, many of whom already offer NFC payments to Android customers through their own apps and universally by adhesive NFC tags, will get off their little moral high horse and let Apple in for a bit!

I'd prefer it if Apple would just let banks access to the NFC chip in the phone rather than bothering with Apple Pay.

 

[Playgear]

Sadly my AMEX was issued by Westpac so I imagine it won't be supported.

Just a point a few people seem to have missed; the story says eligible American Express customers. Going by what this means in the US and UK, i'd have thought this means American Express issued cards only (ie not an AMEX card with anyone else's name on it)

That is the case - https://www.americanexpress.com/au/content/apple-pay/

 

[Brandhouse]

Well that will be useless in Australia with Apple Pay and the partnership ofAmerican Express, as it's (American Express) widely despised for its excessive charges and isn't used or accepted within stores as a payment system.

 

[Dataexar]

At last! Some shops here in Hong Kong doesn't accept American Express, so I rarely get it use. Hopefully with Apple Pay I will get to use it more often. The big question though, is wether or not Apple Pay will take over Octopus card for small transactions. It'd be cool to use Apple Pay on MTR like the London kids on the tube!