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Apple Pay adoption received a big boost in France today as two major banks officially announced their support for Apple's mobile payment system.

iphone-apple-watch-hsbc-apple-pay-france.jpg

HSBC officially launched a dedicated support page for Apple Pay, confirming an earlier discovery by French tech news site iphon.fr.

Meanwhile, BNP Paribas made good on an announcement last month to bring Apple Pay support to its customers by announcing the compatibility of its Visa bank card with Apple's digital wallet on compatible Apple devices.

apple-pay-france-bnp-paribas-800x387.jpg

BNP Paribas and HSBC join 25 other banks that support Apple Pay in the country, although Apple has yet to update its European Apple Pay bank partners page to reflect the change.

Apple Pay first launched in the United States in October 2014 and has since expanded to many other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China, Singapore, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Japan, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Ireland, and Ukraine.

(Thanks, Adrian!)

Article Link: Apple Pay Expands to BNP Paribas and HSBC Banks in France
 
Yet the Netherlands remains practically the last apple-pay-free country in Europe :( also no HomePod, no cellular Apple Watch etc.

Doubly irritating because android users can all use nfc contactless and apple even won’t open up the nfc chip to compensate so we remain the only ones who have to wave actual cards about to pay for stuff (people here use contactless for over 50% of transactions i believe).

Come on Apple!
 
Yet the Netherlands remains practically the last apple-pay-free country in Europe :( also no HomePod, no cellular Apple Watch etc.

Doubly irritating because android users can all use nfc contactless and apple even won’t open up the nfc chip to compensate so we remain the only ones who have to wave actual cards about to pay for stuff (people here use contactless for over 50% of transactions i believe).

Come on Apple!

Come on Apple? Talk to your bank and local regulators.
 
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Actually, according to the Dutch banks, it’s Apple not actually offering the service to them. Apple don’t respond to any attempts at communication about the subject.

It's up to the banks, and in the US, merchants, as to whether Apple Pay is accepted. Apple translated the Apple Pay support documents into Dutch two years ago when they began discussions with the banks there, but the banks have to sign up and agree to pay Apple a tiny amount (usually around .015%) and have their cards work with the system, e.g., this article is about some additional banks in France agreeing to participate in Apple Pay. Banks in many countries that have controlled the credit card system are sometimes reluctant to give up any portion of the fees they charge or control over the transactions.
 
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Come on Apple? Talk to your bank and local regulators.

Such BS. It's always someone else's fault, but never Apple's.

My bank has repeatedly publicly stated they will implement Apple Pay as soon as they can. So far no movement from Apple at all in my country (Latvia). Apple is still too arrogant/lazy to implement Apple Pay in much bigger EU countries, so I'm not holding my breath.
 
Such BS. It's always someone else's fault, but never Apple's.

My bank has repeatedly publicly stated they will implement Apple Pay as soon as they can. So far no movement from Apple at all in my country (Latvia). Apple is still too arrogant/lazy to implement Apple Pay in much bigger EU countries, so I'm not holding my breath.


Your frustration at not having access to a great Apple product is understandable, but when you make this kind of statement, does it occur to you how irrational it is? Why would Apple not want Apple Pay to be in every country that wants it? They already have spent the money to build the system. It's on every iPhone now, and in Europe most all the merchants take it. Why would Apple intentionally delay offering Apple Pay, both as a service to iPhone users and to make more money? Doesn't make sense does it? Now, let's look at your argument in further detail regarding Europe.

Apple Pay is currently offered in 21 countries in Europe! Apple Pay has been accepted by the banking system in countries ranging from tiny Monaco and Vatican City to the biggest countries such as France, UK and Germany.
 
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Such BS. It's always someone else's fault, but never Apple's.

My bank has repeatedly publicly stated they will implement Apple Pay as soon as they can. So far no movement from Apple at all in my country (Latvia). Apple is still too arrogant/lazy to implement Apple Pay in much bigger EU countries, so I'm not holding my breath.

Did your bank actually apply and do the process? Your statement is basically nothing more than a “we are working on it, it’s coming soon” line. As for your arrogant/lazy accusation, Apple would never walk away from an income stream, and you’re not entitled to anything at all.
 
Some quotes from Dutch banks:

"Apple biedt Apple Pay in Nederland niet aan", is alles dat een woordvoerder van ING wil zeggen.

- translates as ‘apple doesn’t offer Apple Pay in the Netherlands.


"Rabobank blijft de ontwikkelingen volgen en blijft in gesprek met eventuele partners", zegt een woordvoerder van de Rabobank.

- translates as Rabobank is following developments and remains in talks with potential partners.

"Apple Pay is in Nederland inderdaad nog niet beschikbaar en Apple heeft ook (nog) niet aangegeven wanneer en óf dat zal gebeuren. Er zijn ook geen gesprekken over", stelt een woordvoerder van ABN AMRO. "Mocht Apple in Nederland beschikbaar willen worden, dan zal ABN AMRO die plannen natuurlijk serieus bestuderen."

- translates as Apple Pay ia not yet available in the Netherlands and apple has not (yet) disclosed when or if this will happen. There are also no talks on this. We’re Apple Pay available, then the ABN AMRO would study the plans seriously.

So yeah, apple is, at least, partially to blame for the lack of apple Pay in the Netherlands.
 
So far no movement from Apple at all in my country (Latvia). Apple is still too arrogant/lazy to implement Apple Pay in much bigger EU countries, so I'm not holding my breath.

I was able to add my Monese cards outside the supported country list. I'm a Lithuanian citizen and both of my EUR and GBP Monese cards were shipped to a Lithuanian address and both work with Apple Pay! I suspect this might be the case with all of their issued cards. The only caveat is you need to have your phone in Apple Pay supported region. I always use mine in US region. Do use my referral code EUGEN795 to get £5 if you feel like signing up to try.
 

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Some quotes from Dutch banks:

"Apple biedt Apple Pay in Nederland niet aan", is alles dat een woordvoerder van ING wil zeggen.

- translates as ‘apple doesn’t offer Apple Pay in the Netherlands.


"Rabobank blijft de ontwikkelingen volgen en blijft in gesprek met eventuele partners", zegt een woordvoerder van de Rabobank.

- translates as Rabobank is following developments and remains in talks with potential partners.

"Apple Pay is in Nederland inderdaad nog niet beschikbaar en Apple heeft ook (nog) niet aangegeven wanneer en óf dat zal gebeuren. Er zijn ook geen gesprekken over", stelt een woordvoerder van ABN AMRO. "Mocht Apple in Nederland beschikbaar willen worden, dan zal ABN AMRO die plannen natuurlijk serieus bestuderen."

- translates as Apple Pay ia not yet available in the Netherlands and apple has not (yet) disclosed when or if this will happen. There are also no talks on this. We’re Apple Pay available, then the ABN AMRO would study the plans seriously.

So yeah, apple is, at least, partially to blame for the lack of apple Pay in the Netherlands.

Of course they state something like this. It would be worse for them than Apple to tell the truth.

I know a Belgian bank made the analysis to support Apple Pay a while back (before the BNP Paribas launch) and concluded it was too expensive for them. There’s no reason it’s not similar in the Netherlands. And as long as neither of them makes a move, they can keep ignoring it.
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Did your bank actually apply and do the process? Your statement is basically nothing more than a “we are working on it, it’s coming soon” line. As for your arrogant/lazy accusation, Apple would never walk away from an income stream, and you’re not entitled to anything at all.

Apple is quite famous for walking away from income streams. If they wanted to capture more markets they would have released a cheaper HomePod and iPhone, not abandoned the Pro market years ago, and not axed their Wifi and server products, etc.
 
I was able to add my Monese cards outside the supported country list. I'm a Lithuanian citizen and both of my EUR and GBP Monese cards were shipped to a Lithuanian address and both work with Apple Pay! I suspect this might be the case with all of their issued cards. The only caveat is you need to have your phone in Apple Pay supported region. I always use mine in US region. Do use my referral code EUGEN795 to get £5 if you feel like signing up to try.

After some research I might actually try Monese (will use your referral). Googled but couldn't find if you can use Monese UK card for iTunes UK store purchases. Probably, right?
 
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