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Apple Pay May Be Expanding to Canada as Soon as March

Friday January 9, 2015 6:37 am PST by Mitchel Broussard
Apple Pay has been exclusive to the United States since its launch last October, but it now appears Apple is preparing to take the mobile payments service international with an expansion to Canada as soon as this March. Citing sources "close to the situation," 9to5Mac reports Apple is currently in negotiations with Canadian partners, preparing and planning various promotional materials over the next few weeks for use during the upcoming launch.

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Apple and Canadian launch partners are in the process of planning advertising and other promotional material for March, which indicates that the launch could come as soon as then. Of course, these are still active discussions and it’s possible the talks could fail to result in a launch by March. Several sources, however, tell us Apple is currently targeting that timeframe.
International expansion of Apple Pay has been the subject of several rumors in recent months, but Apple has yet to make any official announcements about its plans. Apple Pay has, however, been growing steadily in the U.S. since its October launch, adding new banks, credit unions, and retail partners at a steady rate.

Rumors of a March launch for Apple Pay in Canada fall in line with the current rumor of the Apple Watch launching in the same month, although it is unclear whether Canada will be in the first wave of launch countries for Apple Watch as Apple's Canadian website says "Available in 2015" while the company's U.S. site mentions a more specific "Coming Early 2015." With the Apple Watch capable of supporting Apple Pay payments, however, it seems natural for Apple to be pushing forward on international expansion of the payments service as the watch's launch approaches.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: 9to5mac.com
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teslo
49 months ago
Apple P'eh?
Rating: 31 Votes
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SteveJobs2.0
49 months ago
Most terminals in large Canadian cities support NFC payments with credit cards so once this is in place I can see it being adopted rapidly.
Rating: 12 Votes
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ipedro
49 months ago
My Scotiabank branch manager strongly hinted that I wouldn't have to wait too long. Looks like it's coming:D
Rating: 8 Votes
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aprofetto8
49 months ago
Rating: 8 Votes
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xero9
49 months ago

This is great news!

I have family in Canada who love the idea of Apple Pay. Plus I vacation a few times a year there and it would be great to have official support.

Good going!


If you're visiting Canada from the US it's business as usual for you. Official support by our banks or not, you can take advantage of the vast number of stores that accept NFC payments. This is what annoyed me the most (though I understand why the US was first). I used Apple Pay with my mother in law's card while I was there over the holidays. There were only two stores (Shaws and Subway) that accepted NFC payments. Here on the other hand, more places accept it than not (excluding very small mom and pop shops).
Rating: 6 Votes
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rlreif
49 months ago
I am an American, now living in Canada.
I have a US iPhone, and US credit cards, and use apple pay in Vancouver several times a day (I'm currently drinking a coffee that I paid for with apple pay). Even little mom and pops stores usually have terminals that will work for me with my 6 plus. Anywhere that accepts 'tap' will work already.

It should be easier for Apple and the banks to flip the switch here since the NFC terminals are already everywhere.
Rating: 4 Votes
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spenjere579
49 months ago
I don't find this a surprise. I am a Cannadian and know a lot about the payment services here. In Canada almost everyone has a debit card, at the cafeteria in my high school they have debit machines and everyone uses debit cards. There is no fee with every transaction and everything goes through a company called Interac. So technically if Apple got a deal with Interac, every debit card would be compatible, and all of the debit machines already have NFC built in because we have NFC built into our debit cards and we tap out debit cards onto the machines. People have proven that Apple Pay works as long as you have aN American access card. They might have more success in Canada because of how common the NFC debit machines are, everywhere accepts debit but not everywhere accepts NFC, and of how many more people use debit cards. I have had a debit card since I was eight.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Newfiebill
49 months ago
My TD Branch is Hinting

I have been with TD Canada for 20+ Years, I know the staff at my Branch very well and them me. It has been strongly rumored that TD Canada will be one of the first to jump on board (no surprise). I was told I won't have to wait much longer... Nice!
Rating: 3 Votes
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Daalseth
49 months ago
Woo Hoo!

I've been saying since last fall that ApplePay was the thing that would finally give me an excuse to drop my ancient LG phone and get an iPhone6. As soon as it's here, and especially if it includes Debit cards I'm there. Goodbye 6 year old LG flip phone.
Rating: 3 Votes
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jm001
49 months ago
Holy moly! First we got iTunes Radio then... oh wait a minute... I'll get excited once it's officially launched here. Until then I'm not expecting much truth to this rumour.
Rating: 3 Votes

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