Apple Pay is Coming Soon to Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Greece, Romania, and Luxembourg

[leon44]

Personally I think it's an Apple Greed problem. Banks here don't take too kindly to giving a cut to Apple

Then isn’t it a bank greed problem? Apple aren’t asking more from Dutch banks than anywhere else
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Also the advantage of supporting Apple Pay in Holland is almost non-existent for banks, it just cuts into their profit. Mostly because it would be replacing contactless cards (which nearly everybody has in Holland) instead of in other countries where it replaces old-style cards where you have to put your card in the machine and type in your pin every transaction.

The first Dutch bank to adopt Apple Pay should see a surge in people signing up for accounts, competition is the incentive.
Contactless has been ubiquitous for years before Apple Pay all over Europe, the Dutch aren’t special here

 

[ipedro]

Basically the only reason I carry a wallet is for my I.D./driver's license.

I use to worry about that but I never get ID'd for anything. If I'm driving, my driver's license is locked in my glove compartment. In some countries, states and provinces, governments are working on digital IDs which would be kept in your phone.

Coffee shop loyalty cards.

All my loyalty cards are in my Wallet app too.

 

[arkitect]

I use to worry about that but I never get ID'd for anything. If I'm driving, my driver's license is locked in my glove compartment. In some countries, states and provinces, governments are working on digital IDs which would be kept in your phone.



All my loyalty cards are in my Wallet app too.

View attachment 828838

Alas, the smaller independent shops here don't have that… they still rely on cards and stamps. The likes of StarBucks etc do… but then who would confess to drinking there!

 

[ffd]

This is great. I travel frequently to Portugal and even though they have tap payments, Apple Pay fails more often than not. It’ll be good to be able to just carry my Watch or iPhone like I do in Toronto. Wallet Free since 2016.

Portugal has a very strong cashless culture with their bank machines a central part of every day life. Apple Pay will do very well there.

On the other hand, the standard current model (mid-range version) costs more than 80% of the median salary.

 

[ipedro]

On the other hand, the standard current model (mid-range version) costs more than 80% of the median salary.

Yes. Current model iPhones are expensive for Portuguese citizens. It's not a particularly popular phone which is why I'm actually kind of surprised that Apple Pay is moving there. Maybe like in India, iPhone 7 and 8 get wider adoption?

 

[votdfak]

My boon. wasn't working in Russia during WC, and they have Apple Pay there, and a lot of NFC POS. Annoying af.
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I was using Boon. too, but since last Monday I get error, when using slovak cards to top up. Their support said that my top up was disabled due to security issues, which is ******** and that they support only credit card issued from a country where boon. is active...

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You should be able to top up boon. using bank transfer. Which country you registered with boon.? I am registered in France.

 

[rmoliv]

Yes. Current model iPhones are expensive for Portuguese citizens. It's not a particularly popular phone which is why I'm actually kind of surprised that Apple Pay is moving there. Maybe like in India, iPhone 7 and 8 get wider adoption?

I’m not surprised at all and I was actually thinking what was taking them so long. Any middle class person can purchase an iPhone, even the Xs Max. Even someone earning the minimum wage can and still manages to pay their bills and stuff. Just like in the US and so many other countries, people buy them on credit and pay for the phone in 6, 12, 24 or more times and mobile operators also allow their customers to enroll in such payment plans. I guess most people go for cheaper models though, such as the 7. iPhone is also very popular among teenagers and young adults, so the market share of Apple is almost certainly growing fast here, hence why Portugal has been among the first wave of countries to get the iPhone when it launches for some time now (as well as all the other hardware except for the HomePod).

 

[kuryack]

My boon. wasn't working in Russia during WC, and they have Apple Pay there, and a lot of NFC POS. Annoying af.
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You should be able to top up boon. using bank transfer. Which country you registered with boon.? I am registered in France.

I registered in Ireland. I know, but bank transfer is not that convenient as using credit card top up.

 

[joeblow7777]

Business cards, Drivers License… Coffee shop loyalty cards.

Some loyalty/membership cards can be stored in Apple Wallet or if the shop has their own app us can use that.

 

[FamVR]

Then isn’t it a bank greed problem? Apple aren’t asking more from Dutch banks than anywhere else
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The first Dutch bank to adopt Apple Pay should see a surge in people signing up for accounts, competition is the incentive.
Contactless has been ubiquitous for years before Apple Pay all over Europe, the Dutch aren’t special here

You don't seem to understand how it works around here. First. Most people in The Netherlands use debit cards for their shopping payments and iDeal for web purchases. Not a credit card. This is a problem for Apple.

Also. Apple earns revenue from its role as a “token-assurance provider” for issuers. Like 0.15% per credit card transaction and 0.5% for a debit card transaction. This percentage exceeds transaction costs ranging as low as 0.038 to 0.050 cent per transaction in The Netherlands. Not to mention that adding cards also costs money. Ergo. Apple Pay is more expensive.

 

[GertjeD]

Ok this is getting ridiculous. Like honestly, almost every country in the EU has or is gonna get Apple Pay besides The Netherlands, one of the biggest economies in the EU. What is the holdup? I’ve used Apple Pay using a workaround via bunq here in the Netherlands and have had zero places where I couldn’t use it, so that can’t be it. ING, which is a Dutch bank, supports Apple Pay in several countries so you already have two banks down here who theoretically could support it.

The Dutch hardly use credit cards. Every one sends direct digital transfer orders via bank apps, NFC terminals and an internet protocol called iDeal. Looking at market penetration, cultural acceptance and ease of use, everyday payments based on credit cards will never ever land in the Netherlands.

 

[Bram.96]

The Dutch hardly use credit cards. Every one sends direct digital transfer orders via bank apps, NFC terminals and an internet protocol called iDeal. Looking at market penetration, cultural acceptance and ease of use, everyday payments based on credit cards will never ever land in the Netherlands.

Apple Pay doesn’t just use credit cards. When I used Bunq for instance it was just a regular debit (maestro) card.

 

[unclemax]

Meh, this almost 5 year delay killed all the buzz about Apple Pay for me personally.

Probably has a lot to do with the fact that I spend a lot of time in China these days, where people look at you like an idiot if you try to pay with a card / contactless card / NFC payment system on your phone instead of ubiquitous AliPay / WeChat.

 

[leon44]

You don't seem to understand how it works around here. First. Most people in The Netherlands use debit cards for their shopping payments and iDeal for web purchases. Not a credit card. This is a problem for Apple.

Same all over Europe, this is UK:

from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47581707

I understand it quite well, iDEAL is required online as your Maestro debit cards don't have a number on the front. What I don't understand is why NL does debit cards differently than everywhere else.

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The Dutch hardly use credit cards. ... everyday payments based on credit cards will never ever land in the Netherlands.

It's primarily for debit cards

 

[DennisdeWit]

It is not so difficult: Apple Pay is not supported in Netherlands and will never be.

If you want these kind of comforts, buy an Android. That’s coming from a guy who only has Apple products.

 

[Cristim74]

ING, Banca Transilvania and Orange Money officialy announced yesterday support for Apple Pay in Romania as "coming soon". When asked when is "soon", ING mentioned second half of the year. Probably just in time for the September Apple event.

 

[Trusteft]

Hey Apple, how about you open if not a single physical store, at least an official online shop to sell your products here instead of pushing us to third part resellers? (Greece).

 

[rmoliv]

Hey Apple, how about you open if not a single physical store, at least an official online shop to sell your products here instead of pushing us to third part resellers? (Greece).

Isn't this what you're looking for? https://www.apple.com/gr/

 

[Trusteft]

Isn't this what you're looking for? https://www.apple.com/gr/

official online shop

 

[whatta]

Waiting for KBC to enable Apple Pay for their Belgian customers..

 

[rmoliv]

official online shop

Sorry, thought you'd be able to shop from their website since there's where I shop directly from Apple. Wasn't aware the online shop wasn't available in Greece though.

 

[Trusteft]

Sorry, thought you'd be able to shop from their website since there's where I shop directly from Apple. Wasn't aware the online shop wasn't available in Greece though.

No worries. It's an easy mistake to make.
Apple on the other hand...no excuses.

 

[unclemax]

No worries. It's an easy mistake to make.
Apple on the other hand...no excuses.

The excuse is very trivial - your country is too insignificant a market for Apple, they’d rather develop directions that can bring them more profit quicker. Case in point: have you heard about a city called Xi’an? Its population is larger than that of Greece and people surely have more money to spend on Apple gadgets, yet there are no Apple Stores, only authorized resellers.

 

[Trusteft]

The excuse is very trivial - your country is too insignificant a market for Apple, they’d rather develop directions that can bring them more profit quicker. Case in point: have you heard about a city called Xi’an? Its population is larger than that of Greece and people surely have more money to spend on Apple gadgets, yet there are no Apple Stores, only authorized resellers.

I don't know how to answer that. I will just smile.

 

[tiagofal]

This is great. I travel frequently to Portugal and even though they have tap payments, Apple Pay fails more often than not. It’ll be good to be able to just carry my Watch or iPhone like I do in Toronto. Wallet Free since 2016.

Portugal has a very strong cashless culture with their bank machines a central part of every day life. Apple Pay will do very well there.

H

This is great. I travel frequently to Portugal and even though they have tap payments, Apple Pay fails more often than not. It’ll be good to be able to just carry my Watch or iPhone like I do in Toronto. Wallet Free since 2016.

Portugal has a very strong cashless culture with their bank machines a central part of every day life. Apple Pay will do very well there.

Hey Pedro! The issue is not with ApplePay itself, it’s about the local network. Although most POS work with MasterCard/VISA network, they’ll rely on Multibanco (local network) for the transaction. As a rule of thumb, only Portuguese banks/cards are subscribed to that network, meaning that both the Physical foreign MasterCard or Apple Pay card get rejected whereas a local MasterCard is accepted.

The only workaround will be Apple Pay being accepted by the multibanco network or a dash of lunch to march you card issuer with the POS network.

Ps: this is my experience with regular Dutch issued cards issued on MC and Maestro not working back here the same way my PT VISA ones didn’t work on most of the NL network.