Finally! Though sadly the biggest and most common banks like Sparkasse, Volksbank, Commerzbank and their respective cooperating partners aren’t in on it (yet).
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Apple Pay Launches in Germany
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Yes, I was surprised that at least Commerzbank wasn't on the list - hopefully they are working on it, or will come around once it is a success in Germany (For that read "They can make money by adopting it")
as long as you have "wir schaffen das" ... no worry
The most #eu disgusting thing is that N26 supports it in several european countries but not austria! that should not be possible in a real #eu.
They can't, the card issuer has to pay Apple. They can make much more money with their own system, which is why many big banks do not want to participate. To some extent this is Apple's fault. Their expansion efforts have been so poor that many competing payment projects were brought to life.
Anyway, at least you have options. There are a few banks in that list to choose from. Unlike, for example, Switzerland, which has had Apple Pay for years but not a single bank supporting it. Just open a new account for your day-to-day shopping or switch completely.
Hopefully, many people will do this. In that sense it could also eventually be true that "They can make money by adopting it" in that they make money by not losing customers.
Does this mean I can travel to Germany and use Apple Pay? Are there restrictions on which credit card/banks stateside are compatible? Or is Apple Pay like the Euro in a sense; if a country accepts it, it works? (Maybe not the best analogy but hope it makes sense)
Thankfully, it is changing a lot in the last few years. I used to memorise the businesses that accept debit or credit cards and without minimum amount. Now, the list had gotten so long that I don't bother doing that. I hardly pay with cash nowadays since more and more businesses, including small mom-and-pop stores, have NFC-enabled card readers.
The biggest complain is some businesses are so stuck in the dark ages of customer service. They would insist on minimum amount of €5 or €10 or, gasp, €20 if we want to pay with cards. Their idiotic explanation is that the businesses would have to swallow the transaction fees even though they cost laughably tiny. A few of them would accept only EC-cards (debit cards issued by European banks that work only within EU and EEA zones) but not credit cards.
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Yes, you can do that. I live in Germany and have been using Apple Pay here surprisingly since October 2014, and many businesses with NFC-enabled card readers accept Apple Pay with no issues. To be clear, I used the debit card from American bank.
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Oh, yes, Germans will have something to complain! Two biggest complaints I have faced since I started using Apple Pay in Germany since October 2014 are minimum amount and severe abhorrence toward credit cards.
Some establishments insist on the minimum amount of €5, €10, or, gasp, €20 for card payments. I am so sick of hearing the excuses about the so-called transaction fees that are nothing more than the cost of one peanut or two.
Additionally, I am so tired of being told off at the cashier that credit cards aren't accepted even the EC-Karten (debit cards issued by European banks for EU and EEA zones) are accepted. Deutsche Post (German postal service) won't accept credit cards, for instance.
Won't surprise me if Germans blare at those establishments about minimum amount and bias toward credit cards...
Oh, by the way, I use the debit card issued by American bank for Apple Pay here in Germany since October 2014. It works here surprisingly since October 2014. Don't believe me? Check YouTube from January 2015:
Czech Republic should be coming Q1 2019 from some of the statements of the banks but let's see. Hope the same thing doesn't happen in the Czech Republic as it did in Germany.
Cash is still much better than the archaic system you had just a while ago in the states.
Yeah. I also had a culture shock the first time I went to the US: You guys were actually writing paper checks all the time instead of wiring money. The rent is due? Write a check! The utilities bill came? Write a check! That felt like something I had only seen in ancient movies at that time: The US had never heard of a direct debiting system! Instead, everybody was either doing the thing from the 1800s (called writing checks) or swiping their credit cards. In Europe, we usually use EC cards instead, which directly deduct the money from your bank account. Oh, yeah credit cards and bank accounts: Here in Germany, we usually have lines of credit on our bank accounts -- which makes credit cards almost obsolete, we mostly use them for Internet shopping or buying fuel.
Yeah, there a lot of differences in our financial system. And according to recent history, the European financial system might be old fashioned, but it certainly is a whole lot more stable.
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Cash is still much better than the archaic system you had just a while ago in the states.
In cash we trust. And never forget: The attraction of money in cash lies in its anonymity.
Now please Austria. Its sad that this takes so long.
Thats not my experience in countries that have chip and pin. Are you really saying you don't see people tapping their cards?
I guess Australia is one of the leading users of contactless payments.
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My certainly incomplete list of banks arrives at 71.3 million customers at banks that do not support Apple Pay vs 11.4 million customers at banks that do support it.
Now Apple: please finish our Airport in Berlin!
Apple Pay made its long-awaited debut in Germany this evening, allowing iPhone and Apple Watch users in the country to finally take advantage of the contactless mobile payments service if their card issuer supports it.
At launch, Apple Pay partners in Germany include American Express, Deutsche Bank, Hanseatic Bank, HypoVereinsbank, Edenred, Comdirect, Fidor Bank, and mobile banks and payment services o2, N26, boon, bunq, and VIMpay. It may take until the end of the day before the rollout is fully completed.
MacRumors readers and Twitter users are starting to share screenshots of their Apple Pay cards in the Wallet app on iPhone.
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, Belgium, China, Singapore, Switzerland, France, Japan, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Ireland, and Ukraine.
Article Link: Apple Pay Launches in Germany
Good job, nice post.
As for the bold highlighted part, I guess that includes travelling/holidays.
I am getting an "An error occurred while setting up Apple Pay" when I press the + button. First two cards were added without problems hours ago but now trying to add another getting that error. Anyone else?
Wife & I have been DB users for many years - sorry that your Bank wasn't listed, and that we don't count as "people" in your book!
No, you count as "rich people". Just as I do.
Nonsense. In Germany, cash is used more often because there is more old people here. Most middle aged people don't pay with cash. Some do, but most don't. It has nothing to do with anonymity and privacy. Germans don't seem to have a problem using Payback to collect "Punkte" even when they pay with cash. Payback is literally about giving you a few cents in return for your data.
Also there are still "cash-only" little shops because they prefer to save a few pennies than to offer more convinces to their customers.