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Apple Pay

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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

Apple Pay coming to South Korea with iOS 16.4 after getting approval from local regulator

apple pay kroger

Apple Pay was expected to be launched in South Korea in November last year. However, the launch was delayed due to demands from the local regulator Financial Supervisory Service Commission (FSS). Although the situation about Apple Pay in South Korea has since remained unclear, 9to5Mac has learned that the platform will arrive in the country with the release of iOS 16.4.

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Apple Pay Later nears launch, company will use past spending with Apple to evaluate creditworthiness

Apple Pay Later

Apple Pay Later is nearing a launch in the coming weeks, according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg. The buy-now-pay-later offering will allow customers to buy something using Apple Pay on their iPhone in four instalments over the course of six weeks. The service is offered for free to customers, with zero interest attached.

Apple will use past spending on hardware and services to evaluate customer creditworthiness. This means customers with a good history of spending on Apple’s devices at retail stores are more likely to be accepted into the buy now pay later service, as Apple will use that as a strong indicator that they will be able to repay the loan.

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Apple Pay Later beta testing expands; monthly ‘buy now, pay later’ option also in the works

Apple Pay Later | Screengrabs of the service

While Apple Pay Later was announced at WWDC 2022, the “buy now, pay later” feature has not yet launched to the public. That could soon change, however, as a report suggests Apple has “expanded an internal test” of the feature to its thousands of retail employees, “a sign the feature is finally nearing a public release.”

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Latest Apple Pay promo offers holiday discounts at Columbia, GOAT, Le Creuset, and more

Last week a 5% cash back offer arrived for new Apple Card customers. It turns out there’s also a December promotion for anyone using Apple Pay that brings some valuable holiday savings. The current offers include discounts from 10-70% off popular retailers like Columbia, GOAT, Theory, Fender, HotelTonight, Le Creuset, and more.

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Apple Pay launch in South Korea delayed due to review of local terms and conditions

apple pay kroger

Apple Pay is coming soon to South Korea, but unfortunately, users there will have to wait a bit longer than expected. This is because the local Financial Supervisory Service had to review the terms and conditions of Apple Pay before its official launch in the country, which would have made Apple put the launch in South Korea on hold.

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Apple financial services being investigated by UK regulator over antitrust concerns

Apple financial services | Apple Card pictured next to iPhone

Apple financial services – like Apple Card and the new savings account – are mostly limited to the US at present, but the UK regulator is already launching an inquiry into potential antitrust concerns.

Amazon, Google, and Meta are also facing scrutiny over their own moves into the financial services arena …

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Apple Pay web support added to third-party browsers in iOS 16; likely antitrust response

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Apple Pay web support has been made available to third-party browsers in iOS 16 betas. The change has been confirmed to apply to Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.

Apple has likely made the quiet change in response to upcoming antitrust legislation that seeks to outlaw the practice of forcing browser developers to use WebKit

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Apple ‘buy now, pay later’ feature raises antitrust concerns, says US regulator

Apple Pay Later

The announcement of an Apple buy now, pay later feature, Apple Pay Later, has drawn the attention of the US consumer finance regulator, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

CFPB director Rohit Chopra said that Apple Pay Later raised “a host of issues,” with antitrust concerns one of those …

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Apple Pay videos promote security, as iPhone maker faces class action lawsuit

Apple Pay ads with message that physical cards can be stolen and used

We noted earlier today that Apple will probably use security as a defence to an Apple Pay lawsuit, and we didn’t have long to wait. Three new Apple Pay videos have been posted to YouTube, each promoting the security of the service.

Each video is super-short. The longest is 15 seconds, while the other two are just six seconds each …

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Apple Pay lawsuit filed by firm that won ebook and developer antitrust cases

Apple Pay lawsuit | Infographic showing the fee Apple charges to cardholders

A class action Apple Pay lawsuit has been filed by Hagens Berman, the law firm that previously won two high-profile antitrust cases against Apple.

The lawsuit accuses Apple of making a billion dollars a year in fees to card companies by forcing them to sign up for Apple Pay as the only way to let their customers make payments from iPhones and Apple Watches.

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Paying with iPhone at drive-thrus still legal in places with laws against phone use in the car [U]

Update: The article was originally written prior to finding out an exception in the law. It is in fact, okay to use Apple Pay or other forms of contactless payment through drive-thrus in the UK. Source: gov.uk

As new Highway Code rules were released last month, it is now illegal for drivers in the UK to touch their phone while driving. With this, it is now illegal for fast food customers to use Apple Pay while purchasing food in drive-thrus. Now, a warning is out for customers of McDonald’s, KFC, Greggs, Costa, and Burger King.

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