Apple has confirmedthat its Apple Pay mobile payments service – which lets users make payments in some stores via iPhones and the Apple Watch – will be launched in Australia and Canada this year.
It marks the first multi-country move for Apple Pay, which launched in the US last October and landed in the UK in July.
But, at this stage, the Australian experience will be restricted to users who have an American Express card. So far Apple’s offerings have not been accepted by Visa and MasterCard, which have significantly bigger user numbers.
By contrast in the US and UK, Apple has partnered with numerous banks as well as Amex, MasterCard and Visa.
The problem: Aussie banks already give MasterCard and Visa a hefty percentage of each payment, and are believed to not be keen to give a further split to Apple.
The Apple Pay system is made up of an embedded NFC chip, a secure element to store encrypted payment details, Apple’s TouchID fingerprint technology, and its Passbook application.
