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Apple Pay Launches in Australia for American Express Cardholders
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I'm very happy Apple Pay has finally launched here in Australia except I'm not holding my breath with the big four banks as they seem to be a law upon themselves.
Completely different companies with the same names. K-Mart at least started trying to cash in on the US name, but Woolworths may be named after someone else.Australia still has Kmart and Woolworth's?
Likewise Target, which is owned by the same company as the local K-Mart.
While I appreciate the fact that I'm never responsible for fraudulent charges on any cards I carry, having been victim to several data breaches over the past few years, I know from experience that I still lose access to all of that money for a solid 3-5 days in most all cases. When your account is wiped clean and the bank tells you not to worry because you won't be responsible for the cash, followed by "...but you won't get it back for 3-5 days"...it's not much consolation. I, for one, think sticking an adhesive NFC chip to the back of your phone is downright foolish and asking for it.
I would say that Amex acceptance has increased dramatically. It wasn't that long ago that Coles and woolworths didn't accept it.
Personally about 40% of my total spend (that is all spend including mortgage etc) goes through Amex so this is great for me.
I had to change region to US to add the card at 5:30 this morning but now it is set up on phone and watch.
To get the stick on nfc card from CBA I would have to bank with a bunch of criminals so no I won't be doing that.
I'm guessing you are not familiar with the setup of what Australian's call tap and go.
An account can not be 'wiped clean' as easy as you can not do cash out when using NFC. A $100 limit is applied to all transactions purchased with goods.
And as I stated previously there is no greater risk having it on your phone compared to having it on every single card in your wallet, because unlike America, Australia has fully inbraced NFC so much so that it is difficult/ impossible to get a debit/credit card that does not have NFC. Thus the risk is no greater.
Thank retailers for dragging their feet on getting the right equipment into their stores.
Australia has real coffee, only stupid Americans go to Starbucks in Australia thinking it sells "coffee".
Just setup Apple Pay on the ferry into work at Circular Quay. Sydney CBD is my Apple Pay oyster
This. Starbucks coffee is rubbish. There are many case studies as to why Starbucks failed in Australia - and the reason was because their coffee is horrible compared to local coffee shops that are literally everywhere.
LOLz the two will go well together in Australia...
'Do you do AMEX?' - 'HELL NO!!! GTFO...'
'Apple pay?' - 'GO HOME BEFORE I CALL THE COPS MATE!!'
Mmmm adding 5-7% to each purchase (if they allow it - given most shops say NO AMEX) must be amazingly convenient...
A large proportion of Amex card holders were issued their card by banks and retailers as a second string in addition to a Mastercard or Visa. These Amex cards will not work with Apple Pay. Only Amex cards issued directly by Amex qualify and I doubt that they represent a lot of cardholders. I got rid of my Amex account 15 years ago when I realised that very few establishments in Europe and a dwindling number in Australia actually took Amex without a penalty added to every transaction. Since then I've been issued with an Amex card by the Commonwealth Bank as an adjunct to my Mastercard and offered Amex card by several others. My Amex card cannot be used with Apple Pay. Until Apple Pay thrashes out a deal with Mastercard and Visa it will be pretty much irrelevant in Australia.
Apple Pay has launched in Australia in partnership with American Express, expanding iPhone-based mobile payments to a fourth country following Canada earlier this week. The service can be used at Coles, Harvey Norman, Kmart, McDonald's, Starbucks, Woolworths and other select Australian stores that accept American Express and have NFC-equipped payment terminals.
American Express cardholders can add credit cards in the Wallet app on iOS 9.1 by tapping the "Add Credit or Debit Card" option. This functionality may still be rolling out to all iPhones set to Australia under Settings > General > Language & Region, but should be live for all Australian users by Thursday evening.
American Express is not as popular or widely accepted as MasterCard or Visa in Australia, but the partnership could place pressure on negotiations between Apple and Australian banks like Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac. Bank-issued debit and credit cards do not support Apple Pay in Australia at this time.
Australia, like Canada and many European countries, has been well prepared for Apple Pay, as many retailers and businesses have the required contactless payments infrastructure in place. The country has also adopted Chip-and-PIN cards, and Apple Pay is a natural extension of that functionality.
Apple has slowly rolled out Apple Pay since announcing the service, starting with the U.S. in October 2014 and expanding to the U.K. last July. Beyond Australia and Canada, Apple is also partnering with American Express to bring Apple Pay to Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong next year.
Apple Pay recently gained support for Tesco Bank and TSB in the U.K. and over 90 new participating U.S. issuers. Yesterday, Apple confirmed that Apple Pay support is also coming to Domino's and Cinnabon in the U.S. by yearend and 2016 respectively. Starbucks, KFC and Chili's locations will adopt Apple Pay next year.
Apple's website has a new page with more details about Apple Pay in Australia.
Article Link: Apple Pay Launches in Australia for American Express Cardholders
I'm confused by this sentiment. Last time I was in Australia about 50% of the stores that I saw had AmEx logos on their doors. Are they a particularly bad bank there or something?
Sadly this is true, just tried my ANZ issued AMEX and no go. Oh well, it's a start though hopefully others will follow suit soon enough.
Woolworth here is the 2nd biggest supermarket in the country, Kmart is one of the biggest department stores, they have little to do with the US and UK versions.Australia still has Kmart and Woolworth's?
I'm sure the 17 people in the country that use AMEX are having an amazing time.
Correct. My CBA issued AMEX is still not working. Only those with Amex cards directly issued by Amex will be able to use Apple Pay, that includes David Jones and Myer issued cards.
OK so after just tearing Starbucks to shreds in my comment a few up, I decided to sell my soul & ruin my taste buds, and decided to go to Starbucks Circular Quay to try Apple Pay as soon as I got off the Ferry. I wanted to make sure my first Apple Pay experience was in a launch partner store so that I knew it would work 100%.Just setup Apple Pay on the ferry into work at Circular Quay. Sydney CBD is my Apple Pay oyster
It was a huge fail! Didn't work at all. The Starbucks girl had no clue what I was trying to do, and then after I told her Apple Pay launched today (in which she had no clue), she then told me that their EFTPOS machines didn't accept contact-less Amex, only contact-less Visa & Mastercard. After holding up the queue, I folded and pulled out my Visa card.
So simple & convenient they said...
You're shopping wrong. I have never seen 5-7% for Amex. If a surcharge is applied I find it is 3% - I then do not use Amex and cease shopping there. Mind you I don't continue to shop anywhere that has any card surcharge as it is a rort by the retailer - it is the cost of doing business and they should bear it in the same way that they bear the cost of higher insurance premiums for holding cash on site, taking the risk to their staff of having to collect and deposit cash and so on.
If they don't want to bear the premium of Amex charges then don't accept Amex and I can decide whether to continue to shop there using Visa or cash. There are very places that I continue to shop at that do not accept Amex - my butcher and fish monger are pretty much the only ones. The others are bearing the cost of the loss of my business.
Harris Farm Markets (Sydney) added Amex support a couple of months ago, so now about 80% of the family spend, excluding mortgage, goes through Amex. Super easy and accepted in lots of places that I shop. I'll be trying on the way home tonight.