“Target and Taco Bell aren’t the only new partners for Apple Pay this week,” Zac Hall reports for 9to5Mac. “Apple has also updated its running list of bank partners from around the world with lots of new entries.”
“This includes CommBank in Australia which is one of the major banks in the country. CommBank announced last month that support would arrive sometime this month,” Hall reports. “These are the latest across the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.”
Australia
• Bankwest
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Canada
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch – Commercial Cards
New Zealand
• ASB Bank Limited
Read more and see all of the new U.S. banks and credit unions in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
SEE ALSO:
Apple Pay coming to Target, Taco Bell and more top US retail locations – January 22, 2019
In Australia the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is a huge gain as they are the largest of the “Four Majors” (ANZ who have already partnered with Apple; CBA, Westpac and the National Bank of Australia). This means that the others and their subsidiaries will now follow suit. And it’s a about bloody time as I’ve been waiting for my bank, St. George, which is owned by Westpac to come to the party.
So what’s the big deal on this? I can use Apple Pay in almost any retail in Canada already (except for those retailers that are headquartered in the US).
I’m a big fan of Apple Pay in Canada. It works just about everywhere and I use it ALL THE TIME. Last year I put $100 in my wallet in June and at the end of December I still had $95 there. I used Apple Pay for everything else. So easy. Especially with an Apple Watch. My only beef with Apple Pay is that it doesn’t work internationally. I spent 9 weeks in France last year and even though Apple Pay is widely available in France, Iwould not work for me there. I suspect it does not work for out of country cards connected to Apple Pay. So my Canadian cards would not work through AP. My physical cards work perfectly there but not AP. I’m visiting Costa Rica currently and Apple Pay does not work here at all, even though all Costa Rica banks and point-of-sale terminals support tap and pay. Pity.
They could be down to your bank. I successfully used Apple Pay in Singapore a year ago without a data connection without any hassle.