“Apple has made mobile payments look easy, after a decade of mostly failed experiments by banks, telecom operators and retailers to woo consumers away from cards and cash,” Eric Auchard reports for Reuters. “Apple Pay has taken the United States by storm since its launch in September, and the company has said it already accounts for around $2 out of every $3 spent using ‘contactless’ payments on the three big U.S. card networks.”
“But the tech giant will need a whole lot more magic as it looks to extend the service to international markets,” Auchard reports. “Unlike the consumer electronics business where Apple regularly rolls out new computers or phones in dozens of countries at once, there is no such thing as a unified payments market.”
‘Each country is inhabited by often warring banks, credit card associations, telecom operators and retailers, while payment preferences and regulatory regimes can vary widely,” Auchard reports. ” industry executives and analysts say that as the Silicon Valley firm gears up to push into a handful of new markets in the Americas, Asia and Europe this year, it must step gingerly, one market at a time. It is expected to turn to preferred partners in new countries rather than the broad coalition of financial service players it managed to assemble at home, where the contactless market is relatively new, they say.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Slow and steady wins this race. Apple Watch, not to mention tens of millions of Apple Pay-capable iPhones sold each quarter, will help grease the skids.
Related articles:
Apple Pay adds 39 more banks and credit unions – April 7, 2015
Apple Pay rumored to launch in China in April – March 23, 2015
The effect of Apple Pay on mobile and online stores: Ka-ching! – March 19, 2015
How Apple Pay will work on your Apple Watch – March 13, 2015
Apple Pay proves Apple continues to out-innovate would-be competitors – February 20, 2015
Apple Pay takes off, leaving moribund competitors in the dust – January 27, 2015