Apple hasn’t exactly been shy about evangelizing its payment platform to anyone willing to listen, and a new Apple Pay expansion proves that it’ll cross geographic and language barriers to do it.
As of Monday (April 18), Singapore is the latest country to enter the international Apple Pay family, and the move marks the second East Asian nation to bring the payments platform within its borders. The service is limited to American Express cardholders at the outset, but Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay, told iMore that a bevy of regional issuers are expected to join the fray soon enough.
“Starting today, Apple Pay is available for eligible American Express issued credit cards in Singapore,” Bailey said in a statement. “So customers can now pay in an easy, secure and more private way. We’re also thrilled to share that credit and debit cards from Singapore’s most popular banks, including DBS, UOB and Standard Chartered will work with Apple Pay in the coming months — so even more people can experience the best way to pay from their iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad.”
If the Singapore expansion resembles other areas Apple Pay has moved into, more partnering banks will join over time. In fact, Visa is already listed on the Singapore-specific site as “Coming Soon,” though no date specifying what “soon” means has been released.
While the official announcement of Apple Pay in Singapore might be cause for celebration among digital wallet enthusiasts, analysts like Forrester’s Zhi Ying Ng are more skeptical about the in-roads Apple Pay – or any mobile payment offering – can make in Singapore.
“I think that consumer adoption of Apple Pay will be slower than expected in Singapore,” Ng said in a statement, via TechCrunch. “The use of contactless card payments is increasing in Singapore, and consumers are comfortable with using it. While there are still significant barriers to consumer adoption of digital wallets today, it will take time before these wallets become more convenient for customers and as customers realize the benefits and additional value that digital wallets bring.”
Regardless of how many new users Apple Pay can win over in Singapore, it won’t have all the time in the world to make its case. Days after Apple’s announcement, Samsung made their own splash with the news that Samsung Pay would expand to Singapore at some point during Q2 2016. Though that will make just four countries under the Samsung Pay umbrella — along with South Korea, the U.S. and China — it could create the conditions for a mobile payments platform battle royale.
It’ll likely be a few months from now before either Apple or Samsung have any concrete numbers on how their Singapore expansions are going, but if it’s any comfort to them, Android Pay hasn’t made many overtones toward Asian markets.
In fact, Google’s mobile wallet of choice just getting up to speed with expansions in the U.K. and Australia this summer.
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