Apple Pay Launches In Australia (Sort Of)

From Canada to Australia, Apple Pay has gone global this week.

Well, sort of.

While Apple has been attempting to bring its mobile payments service to Australia and Canada for months, there have been setbacks with the banks. Now, however, with a soft launch into the countries, there appear to be the same setbacks.

While Apple Pay is officially available in the two countries as of this week (Canada on Nov. 17 and Australia on Nov 18), the launch is an extremely limited one, as those looking to use Apple Pay in those regions can only do so using American Express. And they can only use American Express cards issued by Amex itself, not from banks.

Some retailers in Australia that have joined for the launch include: David Jones, Myer, McDonald’s, K-Mart, Harvey Norman, Telstra, Coles, Woolworths, Target, Harris Farm, Starbucks, Officeworks, Hoyts, Zara, Bunnings and Shell.

While it’s expected that banks and other card payment networks will be joining the Apple Pay bandwagon soon, there’s no indication as to when.

What had been holding Apple Pay back in Canada is the same issue it’s been having in other regions of the world: Banks aren’t necessarily on board with Apple Pay because of the fees associated with transactions. Negotiations have reportedly been going on since. Plus, at the moment, there hasn’t been a lot of financial perks (or perhaps consumer demand) motivating them to support the service.

The news broke Monday (Nov. 16) that Apple Pay would officially launch for American Express cardholders (issued by American Express and not by banks) in Canada, though the news has been a subject of speculation for months. Last month, the news surfaced after one of their Canadian partners accidentally jumped the gun and offered the world a peek at what their Apple Pay integration will be like in the northland.

Now, we’ll have to wait and see how its adoption rolls out in Canada and Australia over the next few months.