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Discover Announces Apple Pay Support Beginning This Fall

Monday April 27, 2015 5:46 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple Pay DiscoverDiscover announced on Monday that it will enable Apple Pay support for credit and debit cardholders at eligible financial institutions in the United States this fall. Discover will also support in-app purchases made using Apple Pay on compatible iPhones, iPads and Apple Watch.

Discover customers with an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or iPhone 5 or newer paired with an Apple Watch will be able to add their credit and debit cards to the mobile payments service to make contactless payments at thousands of participating retailers and vendors throughout the United States. Discover cardholders will continue to receive current benefits, including Cashback Bonus and Freeze It security.
“As the mobile payments landscape matures, Discover remains committed to giving cardmembers secure options for using their cards and mobile devices,” said Diane Offereins, Discover’s president of payment services. “Discover’s focus on simplicity and value for our cardmembers aligns well with the way Apple Pay makes purchases easy and convenient.”
Apple Pay became available last October in the United States with support from several major credit card companies, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express, and it was reported last December that the mobile payments service supports cards that make up over 90% of purchase volume in the United States. With the addition of Discover, that figure will rise even further.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Discover
[ 101 comments ]


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WilliamG
55 months ago

In related news, Discover sees a 500% increase in cardholders when 2 iPhone owners filled out the online application this morning...


Clearly you're missing out. Discover is one of the best cards out there. Very glad Apple Pay is coming!
Rating: 7 Votes
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mrboba1
55 months ago
I think Discover is quite large. I can use mine anywhere I go, and I see quite a few people with them.

I had actually just sent a message on Friday about ApplePay support being necessary to keep me as a customer - so I guess I have my answer ;-)
Rating: 5 Votes
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ptb42
55 months ago

Arghhhhh !! What a crock of POO !!!

One of the best selling points of the iPhone 6 in the UK was Apple Pay finally!

Yet we are now end of April and we still don't have this feature...oh and don't even get me started about Apple Radio !!!!!

False advertising Apple :( :(


Instead of complaining to Apple, you should complain to your bank.

Your bank is who is holding up adoption of Apple Pay in the UK. There was an article a few weeks ago about it: UK banks are dragging their feet. They have to make changes to their back-end systems to support the EMVCo tokenization standard.

Apple Radio has a similar problem: you should be complaining to your music licensing agencies in the UK. Apple can't stream music to your phone until the UK licensing agencies agree to a royalty rate for each song.
Rating: 5 Votes
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thekeyring
55 months ago
Fantastic. Apple's current services strategy seems to have drifted away from 'lots of work and a big reveal' (which works well with hardware) and moved to 'work, update, work, update'. Look at Maps and Siri. Not a word on those at keynotes yet continual improvements and looks like Apple Pay is the same. :)
Rating: 4 Votes
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Shadow Runner
55 months ago
Yes! This is my main CC, I'll finally have a reason to use Apple pay.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Mr Fusion
55 months ago
In related news, Discover sees a 500% increase in cardholders when 2 iPhone owners filled out the online application this morning...
Rating: 4 Votes
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boshii
55 months ago

Meh... Never used a Discover card, rarely ever see them and personally Do not know anyone who has one. I often fancied the idea of getting a discover card but could never justify it. I have other cards issued from various banks under Visa, MasterCard, and Amex. Discover has never really been able to outdo my other cards in benefits or purpose.


I love the 5% cashback and all the discounts through shopdiscover.com (Discover Deals).
Rating: 3 Votes
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Joe Rossignol
55 months ago

I wonder how big the Discover market is these days. I worked bars and restaurants in the 80s and 90s in a tourist town, when the card was in its heyday, and it was only rarely used then.

EDIT: Since a picture of AMEX is being used for this article, I suppose the lack of a stock photo for a Discover card might be a good indicator. Couldn't even Shop one in.


I have granted your wish.
Rating: 3 Votes
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mariana888
55 months ago
I want apple pay in the UK!
Rating: 3 Votes
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ptb42
55 months ago

I no longer have a Discover card but why will it take them all these months to get it working with Apple Pay?


The bank has to change their back-end systems to implement the EMVCo tokenization standard. That requires, but is not limited to these steps:

* When the user adds a card to Apple Pay, the bank validates the account and associates the new device account number (token) with the account.
* The bank must verify the user adding the card to Apple Pay is the actual user. Different banks use different methods -- those not using one are encountering higher rates of fraud.
* When the user uses Apple Pay at a merchant, the bank must confirm the transaction is valid. In addition to the usual account number, expiration date, etc.... the transaction contains a unique sequence number that is only valid for one transaction.
* The bank must map the token to the correct account number, and confirm sufficient funds/credit before authorizing the transaction.
* When the transaction actually posts to the account, the bank must again map the token to the account number.

You don't make changes like this to banking systems overnight. There's a long process of implementation and testing, and subsequent verification by auditors. This segment of the banking industry is VERY risk-adverse, so nothing happens quickly.

The only reason Apple Pay was rolled out in the US shortly after the iPhone 6 release was that partner banks had a long time to prepare. The EMVCo tokenization standard was published in March, 2014, but I suspect that Apple and the banks got the final draft long before that.

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why can't they just announce it like Discover has?


Discover has their own bank, and their own payment processing network. There are some partner banks that also issue Discover cards, but not nearly the number that issue Mastercard or Visa.
Rating: 2 Votes

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