Apple Pay

The relationship between Apple and US banks is beginning to show strain, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The report, citing “people familiar with the matter,” says that banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, and Bank of America have “grown unhappy with the costs” associated with Apple Pay transactions, particularly after Apple introduced its own Apple Card product in 2019.

The report also reveals the tidbit that Apple agreed not to develop a card processing network to compete with Mastercard and Visa as part of its initial push for Apple Pay adoption.

Almost a decade since Apple started rolling out Apple Pay support, it’s still being expanded to more countries. Today, Bahrain, a country in the Persian Gulf, is adding support for Apple’s own payment system.

It’s been a few months since 9to5Mac began reporting on Costa Rican banks readying the launch of Apple Pay in the country. Now, Banco Promerica just uploaded Apple’s payment system terms and conditions to its web page.

Update: A few days after letting users add their card to the Wallet, Banco de Chile removed them, as Apple is not promoting Apple Pay in the country just yet.

Apple Pay is expanding to a second South American country. After Brazil, Chile is now receiving support for Apple’s own payment system.

A new survey from PYMENTS.com today suggests that just 6% of iPhone owners in the United States opt to use Apple Pay in stores, despite having the feature set up on their device. The survey shows that “93.9% of consumers with Apple Pay activated on their iPhones do not use it in-store to pay for purchases.”

Every week, Apple reveals a new exclusive offer for Apple Pay users in the US, and this week’s offer is for customers of the popular grocery delivery service Instacart. The company is offering up to $30 off orders placed at Instacart for those who pay with Apple Pay.

Last month, 9to5Mac had exclusive coverage that Apple Pay is set for Central America expansion as BAC Credomatic bank ramps up testing. Now, we’ve learned that this bank has taken another step to launch Apple’s own payment system.

Over the last year, Australia has been tightening its laws to regulate Big Techs. Now, the government is considering new laws to regulate digital payment services like Apple Pay.

Apple announced today that it will make a donation in support of the National Park Foundation for all purchases made through the Apple Store in the US this week using Apple Pay. There’s also an Apple Watch Activity Challenge on the schedule for this week..

Apple Card will start to change by 2027. Mastercard announced it’s “swiping left” on magnetic stripes after decades of supporting this technology. “The shift away from the magnetic stripe points to both consumers changing habits for payments and the development of newer technologies,” says the company in a blog post.

Apple Pay is further expanding, this time to Qatar. With QNB bank, the country joins a list of more than 60 regions supporting Apple’s own payment system. According to a support page by QNB, users with a credit, debit, or prepaid card can add them through the QNB Mobile Banking app and start using Apple Pay.

Apple Pay could be readying its launch in Central America as bank BAC Credomatic is testing support for this feature in Costa Rica. As of now, Central America is the only part of the Americas that doesn’t have a country supporting Apple Pay. With this feature available in more than 60 regions all over the world, there is still plenty of space to expand.

Apple has a number of new financing programs in the works to make shopping easier, and the first of those two efforts are now live. Qualifying Apple customers in Canada can now finance iPhone, iPad, and Mac purchases over 12 or 24 months with 0% APR.

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron held an online conference on Monday with some company-related announcements. In addition to revealing a new deal with Warner Bros. for an exclusive 45-day theatrical window prior to digital release, Aron confirmed that AMC theaters will finally accept Apple Pay and other digital wallets by the next year.

Apple today announced a minor update to Apple Cash, the company’s digital wallet that works with Apple Pay and iMessage. As of today, Instant Transfer on Apple Cash is compatible with Mastercard debit cards, but there are some other changes as well.

ING Belgium has announced its long-awaited support for Apple Pay in Belgium, some two years after the bank launched it in the Netherlands.

Users have reported being able to add debit cards but not credit cards, but this appears to be a temporary glitch as the bank has stated that both are supported …

An Australian antitrust hearing has witnessed an Apple Pay versus Google Pay security tussle, as the iPhone maker defends its decision to use a proprietary system instead of an open standard.

Apple says it limits use of the NFC chip for payment purposes to Apple Pay for security reasons, but Google disagrees, stating its own use of an open banking standard for Google Pay is no less secure …

Verizon and Mastercard have announced a new partnership that hopes to advance contactless payment solutions with 5G cellular service. The collaboration is aiming to help small and medium-sized businesses and one of the most interesting possibilities is making iPhone and other smartphones contactless payment terminals without needing any external hardware.