Image credit – The Sydney Morning Herald
Last month Apple Pay finally made its way to Australia, how there is a catch and that is only American Express credit cards could be used. This meant that a lot of customers with Visa or MasterCard credit/debit cards were left out of the fun, but as it turns out it was never Apple’s intention to begin with.
According to a recent report from Reuters, it seems that Apple has been struggling to convince Australian banks to come on board Apple Pay. So far the Cupertino company has yet to sign deals with any of Australia’s four major banks which includes ANZ, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank, and Westpac.
The numbers suggest that this effectively leaves Apple out of 80% of the Australian market. So why the resistance? According to some, they believe it is because the banks don’t appreciate Apple swooping in and trying to hop on board the platform that they have established years ago. For those unfamiliar, contactless payments in Australia have been around for sometime now.
Users can tap their credit/debit cards at terminals to make contactless payment so as far as Australia is concerned, such a method of payment isn’t exactly new. A source at one of the Australian banks reportedly told Reuters that the banks did not see much value in supporting the service.
Until Apple sorts this out, it looks like non-Amex card holders in Australia will still have to wait to use Apple Pay.
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