“Canada’s adoption of contactless payment technology makes it a promising market for Apple Pay, the mobile wallet app that has seen sluggish growth in the U.S. in part because of a lack of updated retail terminals, industry experts said Tuesday,” Michael Lewis reports for The Toronto Star.
“‘Canada is attractive for Apple Pay,’ said Greg Weed, director of card performance research at New York-based consulting and research firm Phoenix International. ‘It’s small but important for Apple in terms of showing how to build usage,'” Lewis reports. “Weed said the advantage for Apple Pay here is that most major retailers have a payment terminal designed to accept PIN-and-chip cards and NFC or so- called contactless payments.”
“Canada began adopting the newer technology about three years ago, but the U.S. is in the midst of a payment system migration and continues to lag,” Lewis reports. “China is the big prize, Weed said, but Canada is a piece of global puzzle that can act as a marketing demonstration case ‘that sorts out some of the problems they’ve had in building volume in the states.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Canada has some of the most beautiful places in the world – and now they have the world’s best contactless payment system, too! With the infrastructure already largely in place and now with Apple Pay expanding well beyond just American Express cards, the sky’s the limit for Apple Pay in Canada.
SEE ALSO:
Canadian banks, including ‘the Big Five,’ sign on for major Apple Pay expansion – May 10, 2016
Apples’ revolutionary Apple Pay expands to Canada and Australia – November 17, 2015
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ian K.” for the heads up.]