Apple Pay Launches in Australia for American Express Cardholders

[Tech198]

Considering that majority of people always carry their phones in hand.

no wonder people get cracked screens.

 

[Prattdizzle]

I am seriously ticked off over the fact the the big 4 banks in Australia don't support apple pay... Have had a fairly protracted conversation with Westpac today and it seems as though they have no plans to support pay oh well guess we will just have to wait...

 

[nagelixin]

..... Have had a fairly protracted conversation with Westpac today and it seems as though they have no plans to support pay

On November 4 Westpac said this on Twitter:

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Westpac Bank ‏@Westpac Nov 4
@pasavito Hi Tony, once Apple Pay is released in Australia, we'll let our customers know when it'll become available with us. Thanks Michael

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If Westpac don't have Apple Pay by the time my card fee is up ill cancel the card.

 

[Yank in UK]

ApplePay is infinitely more useful in Australia, Canada, and the UK when cards are loaded into the iPhone than it is here in the U.S. I have every single Amex and Visa card I own linked to ApplePay and almost nowhere to use ApplePay except for fast food joints. And Apple's big news is that Dominos, KFC, Chili's and Cinnabon will be supporting ApplePay soon. Great...even more places to use the technology that my waistline doesn't need.

Yes. I live in Australia and have been using ApplePay with my American Visa cards since day one.

Since contactless readers are everywhere (called PAYWAVE or similar)!you really have to try to find a merchant that DOES NOT take ApplePay.

What is new is that Aussie cards beginning with Amex are able to be loaded into ApplePay. Not a big deal since those same Amex cards have been using PAYWAVE contactless readers for years

 

[Prattdizzle]

On November 4 Westpac said this on Twitter:

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Westpac Bank ‏@Westpac Nov 4
@pasavito Hi Tony, once Apple Pay is released in Australia, we'll let our customers know when it'll become available with us. Thanks Michael

---
If Westpac don't have Apple Pay by the time my card fee is up ill cancel the card.

Hmm that is a completely different tune to what they have been carrying today... So there might be some hope left...

Lets hope it is soon. I only have a debit card with them at the moment as I am a student but still I would love to be able to use apple pay.

 

[laudern]

I am seriously ticked off over the fact the the big 4 banks in Australia don't support apple pay... Have had a fairly protracted conversation with Westpac today and it seems as though they have no plans to support pay oh well guess we will just have to wait...

The banks will never support apple pay. And why should they? There is virtually 0 incentive to do so. NFC is already prevalent here. Apple brings 0 to the table. Apple want a slice of each transaction fee. Why would the banks want to give any of that up???

 

[Prattdizzle]

The banks will never support apple pay. And why should they? There is virtually 0 incentive to do so. NFC is already prevalent here. Apple brings 0 to the table. Apple want a slice of each transaction fee. Why would the banks want to give any of that up???

If it can happen in the UK it can happen anywhere

 

[Yank in UK]

You've always been able to use Apple Pay anywhere contactless is accepted. I was on holiday in Canada this August and used Apple Pay for most of my purchases. There are also people who've used it in France and other non-Apple Pay markets.

Been using it everywhere in Australia for a year - since Applepay started. Hard to find a merchant here in Australia that DOES NOT have a contactless reader. Australia has had this technology for years used with chips on credit cards. So in a sense ApplePay with Ausstralian Amex cards just s a new way to do what Aussies already do.

 

[Yank in UK]

The banks will never support apple pay. And why should they? There is virtually 0 incentive to do so. NFC is already prevalent here. Apple brings 0 to the table. Apple want a slice of each transaction fee. Why would the banks want to give any of that up???

Absolutely correct. No incentive to either banks or many people since they do contactless payments with chips in Aussie credit cards already and have been doing so for years. Applepay just gives cool factor of doing on phone what they already do by waving their credit cards now.

 

[s1m]

Saves you getting your card out your wallet, dropping the card etc. Also when the watch works it is great. Apple Pay isn't just about tap and go - it is about using Apple Pay as a payment gateway as well. Instead of paypal for instance.

 

[Tech198]

The banks will never support apple pay. And why should they? There is virtually 0 incentive to do so. NFC is already prevalent here. Apple brings 0 to the table. Apple want a slice of each transaction fee. Why would the banks want to give any of that up???

Wouldn't u rather look at it from the other side of things ?

It's not AS much, but lets face it... Apple would charge a lower fee vs say, going via paypal, or others...

I wouldn't exactly frown at this for Apple pay alone.. And if the banks were greedy as u say, then why are allowing this in the first place ?

 

[djgamble]

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.

Which sorta defeats the purpose because you might have just used Visa/Mastercard from the beginning.

 

[laudern]

Wouldn't u rather look at it from the other side of things ?

It's not AS much, but lets face it... Apple would charge a lower fee vs say, going via paypal, or others...

I wouldn't exactly frown at this for Apple pay alone.. And if the banks were greedy as u say, then why are allowing this in the first place ?

Allow what with PayPal already?

 

[Prattdizzle]

This is the reply I just received from westpac....
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Westpac Bank ‏@Westpac 3m3 minutes ago
@prattdizzle Hi Andrew, we have no plans on supporting Apple Pay, we'll definitely let our customers know of any updates to this. ~Stav.

-----------------------------------------------------

Ah well lets hope the 3 other major banks all do it and I might move my accounts.

 

[jonatron]

Two things. Hardly anyone here uses Amex (MC + Visa is about 80% market share, Diners + Amex is about 20%. This includes companion cards issued by banks. Source: RBA) and Paypass/Paywave has really taken off here in a big way.

People here are very used to whipping out their Visa/MC and paying in 2 seconds flat. The US, as I understand it, doesn't have a lot of contactless pay systems and Apple's ApplePay (and Google's whatever) is helping drive adoption of the system so that people's first experience with a contactless system may very well be using a smartphone, and this will shape their future behaviour, i.e. they will always associate quick, contactless payments with a phone, not a card.

Good luck to Apple, but they will have an uphill battle in Australia.

I find that an odd thing to say considering how well it is doing in the UK. Very popular and we have a very similar infeastructure to Australia. Apple Pay is a great experience you just need more than one bank to make it worthwhile and also a bit of time for retailers to get used to it. I think you will be surprised once it gets going.

 

[Prattdizzle]

I find that an odd thing to say considering how well it is doing in the UK. Very popular and we have a very similar infeastructure to Australia. Apple Pay is a great experience you just need more than one bank to make it worthwhile and also a bit of time for retailers to get used to it. I think you will be surprised once it gets going.

I hope that you are right mate.... However in my conversations with the major banks today the future looks bleak.

 

[jonatron]

The banks will never support apple pay. And why should they? There is virtually 0 incentive to do so. NFC is already prevalent here. Apple brings 0 to the table. Apple want a slice of each transaction fee. Why would the banks want to give any of that up???

I don't know if your familiar with the story of Barclays in the UK but they took exactly that approach. Unfortunately it massively backfired as they peed off a lot of their customers by being the only major UK bank to not support Apple Pay. Just search on Twitter for Barclays and Apple Pay and you will see what I mean. Basically it doesn't matter if the banks don't want it. If there is pressure and demand from consumers then they won't really have a choice.

 

[s1m]

Which sorta defeats the purpose because you might have just used Visa/Mastercard from the beginning.

No - if they don't take Amex at all it needs to be a compelling proposition for me to continue to purchase there. Being a good coffee shop isn't. Being the only source of Maris Piper potatoes in NSW - I will pay in whatever form they want including small children.

 

[Zorba]

What struck me is that a lot of retailers, here in Belgium but I've also noticed it abroad, do not put Amex stickers up but when you ask they do accept Amex. I think they'd rather have people paying with debet card or VISA/MasterCard because of the hefty Amex fees.

 

[matthewhuk]

We have a Kmart in PA, USA. Actually more than one. I so hate that store. I saw someone (and adult)...I'll say...using the bathroom in the aisle while I was looking for a pair of Dickies. I still have nightmares. lol

Why did they put a bathroom in the aisle? Odd place to take a bath!

 

[Jamesk811]

Absolutely correct. No incentive to either banks or many people since they do contactless payments with chips in Aussie credit cards already and have been doing so for years. Applepay just gives cool factor of doing on phone what they already do by waving their credit cards now.

How about those of us with Apple watches meaning we don't have to pull out our phone but just tap our wrist? PayWave can't do that.

 

[ds2000]

I've got Apple Pay and tbh I can take or leave it. It gets used quite a lot as I like how it keeps the transactions in my cards history) but at the same time, the times where its not worked, it would have been easier to get out my contactless (given its next to my phone in wallet)

 

[entropys]

Apple should just issue a Visa card direct from visa that is paid through your other credit cards linked to your iTunes account. That would stiff the banks.

 

[Glasgowuk]

The hilarious thing is a coffee shop probably doesn't support Amex.. So... Fail.

Most coffee shops in Sydney support AmEx

 

[djgamble]

No - if they don't take Amex at all it needs to be a compelling proposition for me to continue to purchase there. Being a good coffee shop isn't. Being the only source of Maris Piper potatoes in NSW - I will pay in whatever form they want including small children.

LOL I love how you talk as if all shops NEED you...

If they're a good coffee shop then they're already gonna be popular + raking in heaps of money. I doubt they really care when you rock up and say 'one skinny soy chai latte with 3 sugar substitutes' then show them this foreign-looking AMEX card. They're just gonna give you a weird look and say 'SERIOUSLY... if you even have to ask whether we take AMEX, what do you think our answer's gonna be? NEEEEEXT CUSTOMER PLEASE!!' iPhone AAAAND AMEX? Please... that's just about the most awkward combination for any business... 'uuuum... this guy says he's gonna pay with his phone and that it's really an AMEX card... what should I tell him?'

The irony about your self-important 'well they need to give me compelling reasons' argument is that there's absolutely no compelling reason for ANYBODY to use AMEX:
- Lots of local branches in Australia where you can walk in and get awesome service? Nope, none at all.
- Cheaper access fees and interest rates? No.
- Accepted at more places than Visa/Mastercard? No.
- Easier to use when you travel? Absolutely not.
- Massive credit limit with exorbitant interest rates + fees? Sure... great feature feature if you wanna buy lotsa stuff you can't afford on pure credit.