Apple Pay Launches in Ukraine

[MacRumors]

Apple Pay launched in Ukraine today. Owners of Apple devices in the country this morning found that they could add credit cards to the mobile payment system, including MasterCard and Visa (via Tehnot).

Ukraine's finance minister Oleksandr Danyliuk took to Facebook to herald the launch, which initially supports cards issued by the country's nationalized PrivatBank, with Oschadbank expected to follow soon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/996976922298146817

During the company's May earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay would expand to Norway, Poland, and Ukraine "in the next several months", without providing specific launch dates. Separately, a launch in Ukraine was also rumored for Q2 2018.

The last Apple Pay launch took place in Italy in the middle of May, with users in the country able to add Visa and MasterCards issued by Boon, Carrefour, and UniCredit into their iPhone.

Over the last few years, Apple has been working to expand Apple Pay to additional countries, and it is now available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, Russia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UAE, Ukraine, and Brazil.

(Thanks, Oleksandr!)

Article Link: Apple Pay Launches in Ukraine

 

[JoshBoy]

And it’s still not launched at my bank here in Australia. Sucks because we are the highest users of tap payment in the world (unless you are a flat earther and think we don’t exist)

 

[deavy]

Still no official Apple Online or Retail shops here as well as official representatives in Ukraine.

 

[applepuree]

German banks also still blocking it here.

 

[TheralSadurns]

<rant>

Are you frickin' kidding me? Like seriously?

How about... Somalia gets Apple Pay next... then Haiti... and then maybe also Mozambique.

Germany used to be such a progressive country. Always charging ahead. Inventing cool new stuff and technologies. Being at the forefront of modernity. For centuries!!!
Now... we cannot even get contact-less digital payments.

But... I guess the joke is on me... buying an iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch... thinking it's only a matter of a few months until Apple Pay launches in Germany... 4 years later... still AWOL.

Thank you German banks... and thank you German mentality. Let's just pay everything with CASH. Or use EC/Debit Cards with A SIGNATURE (!!!). Because SIGNATURES are inherently secure!!!!!!!!!

*slow clap*

</rant>

 

[Frederik on MacRumors]

Mandetory “why no Germany?”

... I am actually really pisssed. German Banks are annoying!

 

[Ukruser]

Finally! Great news! This morning I was able to add my card to the Wallet

 

[Rubik]

<rant>

Are you frickin' kidding me? Like seriously?

How about... Somalia gets Apple Pay next... then Haiti... and then maybe also Mozambique.

Germany used to be such a progressive country. Always charging ahead. Inventing cool new stuff and technologies. Being at the forefront of modernity. For centuries!!!
Now... we cannot even get contact-less digital payments.

But... I guess the joke is on me... buying an iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch... thinking it's only a matter of a few months until Apple Pay launches in Germany... 4 years later... still AWOL.

Thank you German banks... and thank you German mentality. Let's just pay everything with CASH. Or use EC/Debit Cards with A SIGNATURE (!!!). Because SIGNATURES are inherently secure!!!!!!!!!

*slow clap*

</rant>

Calm down, dude. And get your facts straight. You very well can use contactless payments with your debit and credit card everywhere in Germany. And signatures are becoming rare. If you really can‘t wait for official Apple Pay support you‘re free to use Boon.

 

[alex00100]

<rant>

Are you frickin' kidding me? Like seriously?

How about... Somalia gets Apple Pay next... then Haiti... and then maybe also Mozambique.

Germany blah blah blah...
</rant>

Wtf man how is it that Germany deserves Apple Pay more than Ukraine or Somalia? If anything Ukrainians have done much more over the last few years to justify being invested money into.

 

[weckart]

...issued by the country's nationalized PrivatBank

I like that a bank with that name is actually a publicly owned bank. Caveat emptor.

 

[Janschi]

Calm down, dude. And get your facts straight. You very well can use contactless payments with your debit and credit card everywhere in Germany. And signatures are becoming rare. If you really can‘t wait for official Apple Pay support you‘re free to use Boon.

Many merchants want the signature for SEPA-ELV, cause ELV is cheaper for them. It's still quiet common.

<rant>
Are you frickin' kidding me? Like seriously?
[...]
</rant>

Komm runter. I pretty much gave up on support for Apple Pay from German Banks.
Thankfully my N26 card is supported cause I lived in Spain for some time and needed a new card.

 

[TheralSadurns]

Calm down, dude. And get your facts straight. You very well can use contactless payments with your debit and credit card everywhere in Germany. And signatures are becoming rare. If you really can‘t wait for official Apple Pay support you‘re free to use Boon.

Facts ARE straight. Contact-less DIGITAL is what I said. Also contact-less credit and debit cards only started popping up last year really. Also support for them was basically non-existant prior to 2017. Signatures ARE becoming more rare, yes. But at least half of the payments still require them. It should be down to ZERO by now. And this should have been mandatory.
[doublepost=1526554724][/doublepost]

Wtf man how is it that Germany deserves Apple Pay more than Ukraine or Somalia? If anything Ukrainians have done much more over the last few years to justify being invested money into.

It's funny that you'd mention this coming from Moscow. haha.
I ain't got anything against the Ukraine! This simply has to be put into perspective. For example when Apple launches new products... these are usually only available in 5 countries initially... one of them being Germany.

And Somalia... well... let's not talk about the validity of possibility of Apple Pay launching there.

 

[itsmilo]

Facts ARE straight. Contact-less DIGITAL is what I said. Also contact-less credit and debit cards only started popping up last year really. Also support for them was basically non-existant prior to 2017. Signatures ARE becoming more rare, yes. But at least half of the payments still require them. It should be down to ZERO by now. And this should have been mandatory.
[doublepost=1526554724][/doublepost]
It's funny that you'd mention this coming from Moscow. haha.
I ain't got anything against the Ukraine! This simply has to be put into perspective. For example when Apple launches new products... these are usually only available in 5 countries initially... one of them being Germany.

And Somalia... well... let's not talk about the validity of possibility of Apple Pay launching there.

Excuse you. Prince Ahmed has every right to use Apple Pay to spent his Million of dollars he made through honest email donations.

—

Really wish german banks would get their ... together. At least I can use my contactless credit card in a lot of places nowadays

 

[Lozza013]

And it’s still not launched at my bank here in Australia. Sucks because we are the highest users of tap payment in the world (unless you are a flat earther and think we don’t exist)

And CBA, Westpac and NAB still want to play stupid games oh boy it's becoming a joke.

 

[makr]

It's funny that you'd mention this coming from Moscow. haha.
I ain't got anything against the Ukraine! This simply has to be put into perspective. For example when Apple launches new products... these are usually only available in 5 countries initially... one of them being Germany.

And Somalia... well... let's not talk about the validity of possibility of Apple Pay launching there.

Nonsense, you do aware its also up to German banks and regulators to support Apple Pay?

 

[knzVZyxf]

<rant>

Are you frickin' kidding me? Like seriously?

How about... Somalia gets Apple Pay next... then Haiti... and then maybe also Mozambique.

Germany used to be such a progressive country. Always charging ahead. Inventing cool new stuff and technologies. Being at the forefront of modernity. For centuries!!!
Now... we cannot even get contact-less digital payments.

But... I guess the joke is on me... buying an iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch... thinking it's only a matter of a few months until Apple Pay launches in Germany... 4 years later... still AWOL.

Thank you German banks... and thank you German mentality. Let's just pay everything with CASH. Or use EC/Debit Cards with A SIGNATURE (!!!). Because SIGNATURES are inherently secure!!!!!!!!!

*slow clap*

</rant>

Germans tend to be cautious with money and finance, I don't think this is a bad thing. While I agree it's frustrating to see Apple Pay launch elsewhere before "here", another part of me cannot blame German banks for trying to protect their long-term interests and resisting Apple a bit. And, as another person commented, there is absolutely no reason why you would DESERVE Apple Pay before someone else in another country!

I also wonder how Apple Pay will actually work in Germany when it eventually does launch... will it work with EC cards? If not, the whole thing might be a bit useless to the general population as credit/debit cards are so rare here.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Can we hurry up and have a good solution for waited service?

Something along the lines of waitstaff handing me a check, and instead of me handing back my CC, there's just a QR Code. I point my phone at the code, and it pops up saying that such and such wants to charge me $X. Pick a card, authenticate through Touch ID or Face ID or code, then enter a tip amount and leave. Their POS registers the bill as paid.

I'd really like to just leave my CC behind, but it seems like 90% of the places I eat don't take Apple Pay. Stores seem to be a lot better about taking it.

Also, why do I still have a physical driver's license? LA (the state) is trying to be the first state to switch to digital driver's license, but their app has been stuck in Apple's App Approval Hell for the last 4 weeks:
https://www.businessreport.com/article/need-drivers-license-theres-app

A few other states are talking about moving from physical to digital driver's licenses, but none have done it yet.

 

[Guda.FL]

Having it on your phone is a step forward, but retail support has to be there as well. I find myself only using applepay at wallgreens and other retails that i tried did not work or were down such as bestbuy. Unless i just dont shop at the right places.

 

[cltd]

<rant>

Are you frickin' kidding me? Like seriously?

How about... Somalia gets Apple Pay next... then Haiti... and then maybe also Mozambique.

Germany used to be such a progressive country. Always charging ahead. Inventing cool new stuff and technologies. Being at the forefront of modernity. For centuries!!!
Now... we cannot even get contact-less digital payments.

It's arrogant to compare Ukraine, Poland and Norway to Somalia or Mozambique. Here in Poland you can pay with contactless card literally everywhere (yesterday I paid for strawberries on street fruit stall); in Germany it's hardly possible.
https://blog.euromonitor.com/2016/08/poles-high-contactless-usage-spur-mobile-payments.html

 

[Guda.FL]

Can we hurry up and have a good solution for waited service?

Something along the lines of waitstaff handing me a check, and instead of me handing back my CC, there's just a QR Code. I point my phone at the code, and it pops up saying that such and such wants to charge me $X. Pick a card, authenticate through Touch ID or Face ID or code, then enter a tip amount and leave. Their POS registers the bill as paid.

I'd really like to just leave my CC behind, but it seems like 90% of the places I eat don't take Apple Pay. Stores seem to be a lot better about taking it.

That would be superb, quicker exit. I remember too many times when it took longer to check out than to eat my meal.

 

[TheralSadurns]

It's arrogant to compare Ukraine, Poland and Norway to Somalia or Mozambique. Here in Poland you can pay with contactless card literally everywhere (yesterday I paid for strawberries on street fruit stall); in Germany it's hardly possible.
https://blog.euromonitor.com/2016/08/poles-high-contactless-usage-spur-mobile-payments.html

Not comparing these.
Simply going down a list of... mhh how to phrase this... relevance to Apple.

Like I said... for new products or product categories there are usually 5 countries where these initially launch. After that, Apple expands that list to include an additional Idk 20 countries. And slowly it expands it to even more...

I simply wanted to go down that list to the VERY END. If anything I compare Germany to said countries... and put it there.
My statement would have been the exact same for ANY OTHER country that was adding Apple Pay today. To be fair though... virtually all major markets HAVE Apple Pay...

 

[Totemsflare]

Any news about the Netherlands? Bloody hell.

 

[TheralSadurns]

In unrelated German news of today... the same root issue.

 

[MrRevelation]

Any news about the Netherlands? Bloody hell.

It’s not Apple, neither is it the bank lobby or the banks. It’s a lack of regulation and vision.

 

[fairuz]

<rant>

Are you frickin' kidding me? Like seriously?

How about... Somalia gets Apple Pay next... then Haiti... and then maybe also Mozambique.

Germany used to be such a progressive country. Always charging ahead. Inventing cool new stuff and technologies. Being at the forefront of modernity. For centuries!!!
Now... we cannot even get contact-less digital payments.

But... I guess the joke is on me... buying an iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch... thinking it's only a matter of a few months until Apple Pay launches in Germany... 4 years later... still AWOL.

Thank you German banks... and thank you German mentality. Let's just pay everything with CASH. Or use EC/Debit Cards with A SIGNATURE (!!!). Because SIGNATURES are inherently secure!!!!!!!!!

*slow clap*

</rant>

To be fair, that's kinda how it is in the US too. Banks adopted Apple Pay, but very few places accept it or something similar. In fact, where I live, half my favorite restaurants are cash-only. Some take Venmo but no credit, debit but no credit, credit with a 10-20% fee... argh. It's too hard to agree on a standard, and I carry around 4 forms of payment now, none of which is Apple Pay.

Tbh hoping Venmo continues taking off. It's easily the best payment system. Anything that requires a significant cost to the vendor is a no-go, which is why WeChat with QR code payments (not NFC) took off in China.
[doublepost=1526575569][/doublepost]

Germans tend to be cautious with money and finance, I don't think this is a bad thing. While I agree it's frustrating to see Apple Pay launch elsewhere before "here", another part of me cannot blame German banks for trying to protect their long-term interests and resisting Apple a bit. And, as another person commented, there is absolutely no reason why you would DESERVE Apple Pay before someone else in another country!

I also wonder how Apple Pay will actually work in Germany when it eventually does launch... will it work with EC cards? If not, the whole thing might be a bit useless to the general population as credit/debit cards are so rare here.

I heard Germany is cautious about tech in general. Aren't your businesses not even allowed to store users' IP addresses, like how every web server does by default?