Skip to main content

Apple Pay

See All Stories

Apple Pay is Apple’s mobile payments solution that allows users to seamlessly use their phone to pay for purchases both in retail stores, apps, and the web. The service was first introduced in 2014 and has been expanding to additional countries ever since then.

The service works in retail stores by simply holding your iPhone over a compatible checkout terminal and authenticating the purchase via Touch ID, or your Apple Watch with no further authentication required once you have unlocked the Watch. It’ss compatible with all iPhones from 6/6 Plus and and beyond, and all versions of Apple Watch.

In apps, it works by pulling in your card information and seamlessly allowing you to checkout using that card information. This prevents you from having to manually enter your card information every time you want to make a purchase. In addition to working with all of the iPhone models previously mentioned, Apple Pay in apps also works on iPads from the iPad mini 3 and Air 2 and beyond. Apple Pay is supported on the Mac and on the web with iOS 10 and macOS Sierra and beyond.

In addition to working with debit and credit cards, Apple Pay also works with rewards cards and store cards. This means that you can add something like your Starbucks card, Walgreens Balance Rewards card, and more to the Wallet app to easily keep track of everything.

To set up Apple Pay on an iPhone, open the Wallet app on iOS 11 and tap the plus (+) icon in the top right corner to begin, then follow the prompts. To add a debit card to the Apple Watch, go to the Apple Watch app on iPhone and look for the Wallet & Apple Pay section, then Add Credit or Debit Card section.

Apple Pay is the dominant mobile payments solution, even forcing its biggest potential competitor to shutdown, and as the service continues to expand, it will only get better. View the full list of retailers and banks that support the service on Apple’s website

Apple Pay is available in the following countries (click the country name to see compatible banks):

Australia

China*

Hong Kong

Japan

Kazakhstan

New Zealand

Singapore

Taiwan

Belgium

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Guernsey

Ireland

Isle of Man

Italy

Jersey

Monaco

Norway

Poland

Russia

San Marino

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Vatican City

Brazil

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Canada

The United States

iOS 10: Rumored iPhone & iPad features in the cards for WWDC 2016

Site default logo image

As we approach Apple’s WWDC 2016 developer conference scheduled for June 13-17, there are more than a few reported in-development features and fixes that are likely candidates for stage time. An Apple Music revamp, Apple Pay updates, improvements for the App Store, and new features for HomeKit, Siri, and Apple News are just a few possibilities for Apple’s event next month. Below we roundup those features and much more as we take a look at the most likely new iPhone and iPad features in the works for iOS 10:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay launches fully in Singapore, five major banks live today [Updated]

Site default logo image

After an initial Amex-only launch last month, Apple Pay is seeing a full roll-out today in Singapore, with Visa, MasterCard and five major banks on board. This makes Singapore the sixth country to get Apple Pay, after the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia and China.

Apple Pay vice-president Jennifer Bailey told The Straits Times: “Now, almost everyone can leave their wallets at home. Apple Pay will be a natural extension of what users have been doing at payment counters” […]

Citibank, HSBC, ANZ and Maybank still do not work with Apple Pay [but] Ms Bailey said Apple is working to bring more banks on board.

Singapore was a good target for Apple, as contactless payment is already extremely well-established in the country …


Expand
Expanding
Close

More than a billion contactless payments in UK highlight potential for Apple Pay

If you’re frustrated by the limited number of retailers supporting Apple Pay, there’s hope from across the Atlantic. New figures reported by the Guardian show that there were more than a billion contactless payments in the UK last year, accounting for one in six of all card transactions.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple CEO Tim Cook talks India, plans for Apple Pay, retail stores & more in extended interview (Video)

Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down for an extended interview with NDTV while in India this week and in it discusses the latest on Apple Pay negotiations, bringing Apple retail to India, and discussions with carriers and government officials while visiting the country.

While noting several large investments Apple is announcing in India, including the opening of a new development office that will create 4,000 jobs and a new accelerator program for app developers, Cook also confirmed talks with Indian banks for Apple Pay and much more:

Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Apple Pay adds online bank Chime, Chase promotes digital wallet w/ free Eric Clapton album

Earlier this week we saw Apple Pay add another 30 banks across the United States, and today Apple’s digital wallet gains support for online bank Chime. Similar to Ally and Simple, Chime has no physical banks and instead relies on its website and mobile apps for supporting customers. Chime’s support for Apple Pay works through bank issued Visa debit cards. After setting up Apple Pay with Chime, customers can use supported iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches to make payments in stores and in apps when available.

While Chime is new to the Apple Pay scene, launch partner Chase is promoting Apple’s digital wallet with a free iTunes album giveaway for one day only.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Fitbit planning to be an Apple Pay competitor next year as it buys NFC payment tech

The Fitbit Blaze ‘fitness watch’

With the Apple Watch the most convenient way to use Apple Pay, Fitbit appears set to bring contactless payment tech to its fitness bands from next year.

After acquiring mobile payment company Coin earlier this month, Fitbit hinted to TNW that it would add NFC payment capabilities to one or more of its devices next year …


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay rival MCX finally throwing in the towel, ‘postponing’ nationwide rollout

Remember MCX CurrentC, the QR-code based mobile payment system that attempted to take on Apple Pay? Launched two years ago, it immediately started creating waves when it required its retail members to switch off Apple Pay or be fined. If that weren’t bad enough, it was quickly hacked.

Apple Pay fans made fun of the service in app reviews, and it wasn’t long before retailers started to break ranks and we saw some rapid back-pedalling on Apple Pay from one CEO before he was replaced by another.

Little has been heard from MCX since, and it’s no surprise that the consortium finally appears to be giving up on the idea – though it has stopped a little way short of admitting as much …


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay holdout Walmart brings its own digital wallet to over 500 stores

Site default logo image

While Walmart remains among the list of stores stubbornly resisting Apple Pay, the retail giant is slowly pushing forward with its own mobile payment service called Walmart Pay. An update to Walmart’s mobile app added support for the digital wallet last month, and today the retailer announced that over 500 stores across two states now support Walmart Pay at checkout.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Canada finally getting full Apple Pay rollout as two major banks launch today, three more confirmed

Site default logo image

Until today, Canadians who wanted to use Apple Pay had only one option: a non-bank-issued American Express card. That’s finally changed as the first two of Canada’s ‘big five banks’ joined today, with the remaining three confirmed for ‘the coming months,’ reports the Financial Post.

Starting Tuesday, Interact debit and major credit cards issued by Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will support the payments technology, which allows users to load cards onto their iPhones and Apple Watches and make in-store purchases using their devices.

Two smaller financial institutions also add Apple Pay support today …


Expand
Expanding
Close

Department store Kohl’s first retailer to integrate Apple Pay with rewards points

Apple Pay may be a convenient, one-tap method of paying for your purchases – but not if you want to collect rewards points at the same time. That has so far always required a separate step, usually using the store’s own app.

Department store Kohl’s has just announced that it has partially solved the problem, allowing Yes2You Rewards points to be accrued just by using Apple Pay  …


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay gains over 20 more banks in the US, prepaid ‘boon. by Wirecard’ in the UK

We’re now more than a year and a half out from the launch of Apple Pay — Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch-based mobile payment system — in the US, and we’re still seeing additional banks across the country regularly join the roster of participating partners. More than 20 new banks have added Apple Pay support in this round, and a new prepaid card launching in the UK today has also made the list. These are the latest banks to work with Apple Pay:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Apple Pay in Australia expands to support ANZ following initial American Express launch

Update: ANZ has an amusing TV ad promoting the launch, embedded below.

After expanding to Singapore earlier this year and to a handful of new United States banks and credit unions earlier this month, Apple Pay is now available to ANZ customers in Australia. First reported by EFTM, this rollout makes ANZ the first bank in Australia to add support for Apple Pay following the American Express exclusive launch last year.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

QR code-based Walmart Pay rolling out to iPhone as retailer still resists Apple Pay

QR code-based payments have their benefits like tying debit and credit card transactions to store reward cards and saving receipts in one step, but they still don’t beat the convenience of NFC-based methods like Apple Pay which are less finicky and more secure. Major retailer Walmart, however, is pushing forward with its plans to make checking out smarter using its own QR code-based system called Walmart Pay. And although the two systems could both be options, Walmart continues to resist other digital wallets including Apple Pay.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay comes to over 50 new banks and credit unions in the United States

Site default logo image

Apple Pay officially expanded to its sixth country yesterday with Apple adding support for Singapore and today, the company has added support for over 50 new banks and credit unions in the United States. Starting today, customers of the following banks and credit unions can add their debit and credit cards to Apple Pay and use it instead:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay now available in Singapore for American Express customers, support for Visa & others coming soon

Site default logo image

Apple Pay is now available in yet another country. Apple today has updated its website and Apple Pay support page to reveal that the service is now available in Singapore. Through a partnership with American Express, users in Singapore can now take advantage of the company’s mobile payments solution.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Barclays support for Apple Pay finally live, all major UK banks now support Apple mobile payments

Over nine months since Apple Pay was introduced to the UK, Barclays bank has finally gone live and launched its support for Apple’s mobile payments service. This means that every major bank in the UK now supports Apple Pay, a big win for a country that already has wide availability of contactless merchant terminals in many stores.

If you are a Barclays customer, open Wallet on your iPhone to get started and setup Apple Pay for your account. NFC comes bundled with Apple’s recent iPhones: iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and the new iPhone SE ..


Expand
Expanding
Close

Report: Apple to bring Apple Pay checkout to mobile websites later this year

Site default logo image

According to a new report from Re/code, Apple is set to expand its Apple Pay mobile payments solution to the web before this coming holiday shopping season. According to the report, Apple has been telling potential partners that with this expansion, users will be able to use Apple Pay instead of entering their card information on the retailer websites.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Longtime holdout Ally Bank turns on Apple Pay for customers

Site default logo image

Ally Bank today announced that its customers can now use Apple Pay with Ally-issued cards. Before today, Ally Bank was among the list of major national banks in the United States without support for Apple Pay. Ally Bank isn’t yet on Apple’s growing list of more than 1,000 bank and credit union partners, but will likely appear in the next refresh.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Coming at Apple’s March 21st event: 4-inch iPhone SE, 9.7-inch iPad Pro & new Apple Watch models

Site default logo image

If Apple’s most recent hardware events were about going bigger (larger iPhones, a jumbo iPad, and a new Apple TV), Apple’s March 21st event is about going smaller. Apple yesterday officially sent invites to its much-anticipated event to be held at its Cupertino campus with the tagline “Let us loop you in.” The event, which was originally internally scheduled for a week earlier, will focus on Apple’s new 4-inch iPhone SE, a smaller, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and new Apple Watch bands. The company will likely also reveal the final versions of iOS 9.3, tvOS 9.2, watchOS 2.2, OS X 10.11.4, and an iTunes update. We’ve reported nearly the entirety of what’s expected to come at the event, so read on for a full roundup of everything we’re likely to see. (Updated March 18th with the latest information):


Expand
Expanding
Close

ExxonMobil rolls out Apple Pay to 6000 gas stations from today – but you’ll need an app to use it

If you’ve been wanting to pay for your gas at ExxonMobile stations using Apple Pay, the good news is that you now can, reports CNET.

Apple Pay went live Tuesday in more than 6,000 Exxon and Mobil-branded gas stations across 46 US states. The service will be added to about 2,000 more stores by mid-year and will be available in nearly all of the company’s 10,000 locations by the end of 2016.

But if you were expecting to just wave your iPhone or Apple Watch at a reader on the pump, that’s not quite how it works …


Expand
Expanding
Close