MasterCard May Support Apple Pay in Canada, Brazil and Asia This Year

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Apple Pay is supported by large financial institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, and China, but the mobile payments service can only be used with non-bank-issued American Express credit cards in Australia and Canada. Apple Pay does not support big banks in either country.

Apple-pay-mastercard
That could soon change in at least Canada, as MacRumors has learned that MasterCard has Apple Pay support in that country on its 2016 roadmap. The information is based on an unverified internal document, however, so the plans cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt until other evidence surfaces.

MasterCard credit cards are issued by a number of Canada's largest banks, including BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD Canada Trust, while store-branded MasterCards are available from large retailers such as Canadian Tire, Costco, and Walmart. Most of these stores and institutions also offer Visa, but their plans remain unknown.

MasterCard is also looking to support Apple Pay in Brazil, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore in 2016, according to the document. Apple previously announced that its Apple Pay partnership with American Express will expand to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Spain this year, while Brazil and Japan would be entirely new markets.

Earlier this month, a hidden "NetworkInterac" string was uncovered in iOS 9.2.1 code that hints at Apple Pay support at Canada's big banks. Interac is Canada's official debit card network, adopted by the country's largest financial institutions nationwide. TD already stirred speculation in October when it inadvertently listed Apple Pay as a method of payment on its website, before quickly removing it.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Apple is preparing to launch Apple Pay in France, and it could make an announcement by September 2016 -- perhaps at WWDC in June. The original report did not specify when Apple Pay will become available in French stores, nor did it have information about which French banks and participating issuers will support iPhone payments upon launch.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tags: Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, MasterCard, Singapore
Related Forum: Apple Music, Apple Pay/Card, iCloud, Fitness+

Top Rated Comments

salamence502 Avatar
salamence502
106 months ago
My heart's been broken so many times with these Canada rumours that I'll believe it when I'm able to add my cards :(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fischersd Avatar
fischersd
106 months ago
Whoever wrote that doesn't seem to understand that Amex is the only credit card company that operates individually in Canada (hence how they were able to negotiate a deal with Apple). All of the MC / Visa cards are issued through the financial institutions. Until the banks get their heads out of their asses and agree to a deal with Apple, we're stuck (and the rumblings were that the banks are negotiating with Apple as a group, so they have more bargaining power).

I'll believe it when it's finally announced - anything else is just vapourware.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darcyf Avatar
darcyf
106 months ago
I'd tap that.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LoveToMacRumors Avatar
LoveToMacRumors
106 months ago
Yes, sooner the better
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anzio Avatar
anzio
106 months ago
Whoever wrote that doesn't seem to understand that Amex is the only credit card company that operates individually in Canada (hence how they were able to negotiate a deal with Apple). All of the MC / Visa cards are issued through the financial institutions.
Wrote what? The article seems to clearly indicate that the banks are the issuers of the cards.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
einsteinbqat Avatar
einsteinbqat
106 months ago
MasterCard and Visa do not issue cards in Canada. The banks do. So, unless something unexpected happens in 2016, the only thing MC and Visa can do is try to convince Canadian charter banks to talk to Apple.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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