Apple Pay is set to become available in Australia from tomorrow for American Express card holders.The payments service will become available locally, following its rollout in Canada on Wednesday, Fairfax Media has reported, however its availability will be initially limited to American Express customers.
The American Express website notes that customers will be able to make payments in-store or in-apps via an iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, or via an Apple Watch. The iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and iPad mini 3 will also be enabled for in-app purchases.
Only American Express-issued cards will be eligible to use Apple Pay, with bank-issued American Express cards not supported at this time.
As of yet, there is no update on when Visa and MasterCard card holders will be able to use Apple Pay in Australia.
Apple Pay, which employs Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint screening technology, launched in the US last year. It uses NFC technology, allowing users to make in-store payments by holding their iPhone near a contactless reader with their finger on Touch ID.
The mobile payments market is becoming increasingly competitive, attracting the attention of tech heavy hitters. Both Samsung and Google have this year joined Apple in releasing mobile payments services, in the form of Samsung Pay and Android Pay, respectively.
