Apple Pay

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.

Apple has launched a pair of new augmented reality experiences designed to promote Apple Pay Express Transit. Apple has added a new AR feature to its Apple Pay website highlighting Apple Pay with Express Transit in New York City, and there’s a new Apple-designed Lens in Snapchat as well.

Apple Card debuted in 2019 and has added a handful of new features and perks since then. With this fall’s release of iOS 15, Apple Card is adding another new security feature that Apple is calling Advanced Fraud Protection.

Apple has launched a new Apple Wallet webpage highlighting the growing number of features in the Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch. The company also completely redesigned the Apple Pay website, touting the benefits of Apple’s mobile payment platform.

Update: Apple has also launched a new Apple Cash website today as well, as first spotted by AppleUser2000 on Twitter.

There aren’t too many Apple Pay competitors at present. Over on Android, there is Google Pay and Samsung Pay, but Apple could soon see some competition on iPhone from an unlikely source.

The European Union is planning to create a digital wallet that would work in all 27 member countries …

Apple Pay’s expansion to Israel has been rumored for a long time, but we now have an official launch date. According to local news outlet Haaretz, Apple Pay will launch in Israel on May 5.

Public transit users in San Francisco now have a new way to pay. The Clipper card, which is used for most public transit systems in San Francisco, now supports Apple Pay with Express Transit Mode. This was first announced back in February, and it’s now available to everyone.

Apple has announced its latest Apple Pay promotion, this time in celebration of Earth Day. Apple says that from now through Earth Day, which is April 22, it will donate $1 to Conservation International for every Apple Pay transaction made on Apple’s website, through the Apple Store app, or in Apple Stores.

A new patent granted to Apple by the US Patent and Trademark Office today could bring another use to the U1 chip found in the iPhone. With the ultra-wideband technology, Apple Pay, based on your location, could know what card to select when the you’re in a store, for example.