[Update: Apple says the issue is now resolved after roughly seven hours.]
If you’re having trouble setting up Apple Pay this morning, it’s not just you. Apple is currently reporting an hours-long issue with adding credit cards and debit cards to the mobile payment service.
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Apple seems to be working hard with its card company partners to promote Apple Pay in the UK. Alongside a MasterCard promo offering free travel in London, Visa Europe is today launching a two-month long ad campaign designed to emphasize the speed, ease and reliability of the service.
Featuring a central theme of anticipation, the campaign uses imagery that captures the pause before a primary action – the weightlifter before pressing the lift, the pianist before striking a chord, the chameleon before making a strike – the scenes then snap into the dramatic conclusions as an analogy to how fast, easy and reliable using a Visa card in Apple Pay is in everyday situations such as paying to use the Tube or in a café …
With Apple steadily rolling out its mobile payment service across the United States, support for Apple Pay has now gone live from these new banks and credit unions:
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Discover announced today that it’s made a deal with Apple to join the other three big card companies already offering support for the company’s new payments service, Apple Pay. That means that starting this fall, Discover cardholders will finally be able to add their cards to the service and make contactless, NFC-based payments using iPhone and Apple Watch, as well as make payments within apps supporting the platform on all iOS devices.
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Ahead of Apple’s ‘Spring forward’ event on Monday where we expect to hear much more about the Apple Watch, more than a dozen new banks and credit unions have added support for Apple Pay. The Apple Watch will support the mobile payment service and extend Apple Pay support in stores beyond the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5s when paired. Following the addition of 18 new banks including credit unions for American Airlines and IBM today, Apple Pay is now supported by nearly 100 institutions. Here’s the list of newly added banks:
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Following Apple Pay’s successful use of tokens—one-time-use, unique codes rather than credit card numbers for payment transactions—Visa today announced that it will remove 16-digit account numbers for mobile and online payments across 2015. No specific date was given for the transition; instead, Visa suggests that tokens will begin to replace credit card numbers as the company’s partners get access to the Visa Token Service that rolled out alongside Apple Pay in October 2014.
“Removing card account numbers from the processing and storage of payments represents one of the most innovative and promising technologies we’ve seen in decades,” said Charlie Scharf, chief executive officer, Visa Inc.
According to Visa, online transactions made with Visa Checkout will be tokenized this year, securing transactions for over 110 existing merchants. The Visa Token Service will also grow to include “other leading device manufacturers and technology companies” beyond Apple with Apply Pay, and will be supported in mobile payment apps released by Visa-partnered financial institutions in the United States, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
Currently most of us have to inform our bank by phone when we’re travelling to avoid purchases in other countries appearing as red flags for fraud and being declined. That could soon change as Visa looks to track smartphones with a service called Mobile Location Confirmation in order to help their security systems become smarter and reduce declined purchases by as much as 30%.
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMw_rr3OYYw]
It’s no surprise that the three major card companies in the US have been taking advantage of being the first with Apple Pay out the door and that the majority of their latest ads and promotions have centered around the new payment service. The latest comes from American Express with a just released ad focusing on highlighting Apple Pay as “The Next Evolution of Membership.”
Last month Apple rolled out support for dozens of banks and credit unions with Apple Pay bringing the count to more than 45 institutions, and today Apple is out with the first wave of the month adding more than a dozen new banks to its list of supported Apple Pay banks bringing the total count to over 60 institutions. Here are the new banks listed as supporting Apple Pay as of today:
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Apple has been rolling out support for its new Apple Pay payments service to more and more banks in recent weeks. The latest addition was America First Credit Union making an announcement late last week, but Apple has since updated its support document over the weekend to also announce support for Commerce Bank.
Commerce Bank, which serves Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado and a few other locations, hasn’t yet made an official announcement, but it’s now listed as supporting personal credit cards on Apple’s support site for Apple Pay. Apple notes that currently Commerce Bank is only supporting MasterCard for the service despite the bank also offering cards from one of Apple’s other Apple Pay partners, Visa.
Commerce Bank joins America First Credit Union, American Express, Bank of America, Barclaycard, Capital One, Citi, Commerce Bank, J.P. Morgan, M&T Bank, Merrill Lynch, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, Regions Bank, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, U.S. Trust, USAA, and Wells Fargo.
Apple Pay has also added a number of supported retailers and apps in recent weeks with the latest additions including Sephora, tickets.com, Disney Store app, and others.
We have a running list of banks that plan to support Apple Pay in the coming weeks and months here. We also have a running list of the latest stores and apps that accept Apple Pay here.
Adding to the growing list of banks and card issuers adding support for Apple Pay in recent weeks, America First Credit Union today announced it’s rolling out Apple Pay support for its Visa card.
“Security and privacy is our upmost priority when it comes to offering our members the latest in technology and mobile advancements,” said Rich Syme, executive vice president at America First Credit Union. “Apple Pay will bring a new level of efficiency for members, allowing them to pay with their mobile devices in a fast, easy and secure way.”
Apple has been adding several new banks since first launching Apple Pay last month and now lists a total of 17 card issuers (not including America First Credit Union) on its support document last updated earlier this week. There is, however, a long list of banks that have already announced support will arrive soon. The list also includes information for supported card types available through the banking partners. A growing list of retailers have also added support for the service at retail locations recently.
We have a running list of banks that plan to support Apple Pay in the coming weeks and months here. We also have a running list of the latest stores and apps that accept Apple Pay here.
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Following the launch of Apple Pay in the US last month, Apple and Barclaycard have introduced a new co-branded credit card with EMV chip-and-pin support and revised rewards and financing options.
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Walmart is one of several high-profile retailers that belong to MCX, a consortium of retailers that have partnered together to create their own mobile payments service called CurrentC. Due to this commitment, the big-box retailer has opted against supporting Apple Pay in its stores. A new report offers a big reason why: high credit card transaction fees.
Update: A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed Amazon Rewards Visa cards now support Apple Pay: “Amazon Rewards Visa Cardholders can now pay with Apple Pay. The website (https://www.chasedigitalpayments.com/) has been updated and cardholders can now start provisioning their cards.”
Just two days after Amazon said it was working to enable its Rewards Visa card in Apple Pay, the company has made good on its promise. Reddit users are reporting success in adding the card, and TechCrunch posted the above photo of a card loaded into the app …
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Visa has published a list of banks and financial institutions that will support Apple Pay in the United States “in the coming weeks,” while MasterCard has its own list of supported banks arriving in the coming months. The mobile payments service officially launched on Monday, October 20th and currently supports cards issued by Bank of America, Capital One, Citi Bank, Chase and Wells Fargo Bank. A full list of banks coming soon from Visa and Mastercard below:
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Following our report yesterday that some card types are not yet supported with Apple Pay, today Amazon confirmed in a statement to GeekWire that its working to offer support for its Amazon Rewards Visa Cards.
A Chase spokesman confirmed to GeekWire that Amazon is not supporting Apple Pay initially, but did not provide a reason… But an Amazon spokesman confirmed to GeekWire this evening it is working to enable the Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card for use on Apple Pay, although declined to say when it would be available.
Yesterday we noted that some co-branded cards, as well as other card types from business cards to prepaid cards, are not yet supported on Apple Pay through certain banks. Many readers reported that Amazon’s Rewards cards for Chase were not yet working, but today is our first official word from Amazon that its indeed not yet supporting the platform. Apple lists Chase as supporting co-branded cards, but it does warn users to contact their bank for information about specific cards that are supported.
As we noted yesterday, Apple’s support document confirms that only American Express and Capital One are listed as supporting small business credit cards, for example. Capital One and J.P. Morgan, on the other hand, don’t support Co-branded cards (Airline, hotel, retail, rewards), while the other banks do. Corporate cards are also not yet supported, while several readers report problems with some card types that are listed as supported in Apple’s chart (below).
Following yesterday’s launch of Apple Pay through participating card issuers, banks and retailers in the US, some users have discovered that the payment service is also already being accepted through some retailers abroad. 9to5Mac readers report using Apple Pay loaded with a US-based credit card at retailers in Australia and Canada…
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Discover has tweeted that its cards will be joining Amex, Mastercard and Visa in the Apple Pay service, allowing electronic versions of its cards to be stored in Passbook for contactless payment using the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch.
[tweet https://twitter.com/discover/status/509405306531876865]
The Information has a new report out discussing Apple’s progress on a mobile wallet payments service. The post echoes reporting by 9to5Mac earlier in the year.
The report says the service may launch this fall, enabling iPhone users to pay for goods with their devices in retail outlets. Apple has apparently discussed the plans with credit card institutions, according to the report, as a user’s banking information “would essentially be uploaded to the wallet”. Apparently, Visa is already onboard with the project.
Apple wants to replace yet another daily tool with your iPhone: your wallet.
Executives from the Cupertino-based technology company have begun discussions with directors from retail store chains about a mobile payments service, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks. Previous reports indicated that Apple is exploring new payments services through discussions with executives from existing payments companies. These latest mobile payments-related discussions, which have occurred with retail store brands such as those that sell luxury clothing and premium goods, have taken place over the past couple of months, according to the source. The source declined to be named and requested that the identities of the companies talking to Apple not be published.
The Apple mobile payments service would be integrated into iOS Devices such as the iPhone and would be a comprehensive solution that would allow an iPhone user to leverage their device as a form of payment in retail stores. Based on information from various people briefed on the matter, the service would tie directly to iTunes accounts. Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue noted last night that Apple has 800 million iTunes accounts with credit cards, and that this arsenal opens up the door for many future products and services. Apple CEO Tim Cook previously hinted that the iPhone’s Touch ID fingerprint identity sensor could someday be leveraged for mobile payment purposes beyond the existing iTunes and App Stores…
American Express has updated its free Amex for iPad app to provide live video chat with a customer care rep somewhat similar to the latest Kindles and their Mayday functionality. The facility is available only when using wifi rather than mobile data.
The app description says that the video chat facility is limited to “eligible card members” – the definition of which Amex has not shared. I guess there’s one way to find out whether you’re eligible …
The app also allows customers to search for transactions, generate filtered statements, create expenditure charts, pay bills and manage rewards and offers.
Apple today posted a job listing on its website looking for a Payments Software Engineer that will “help build a next generation payment platform.” Apple says the payment system will consist of integration of payment devices, middleware and acquirers that will “push the boundaries in new markets for Apple Retail.”
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