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Apple Pay Now Available in 10 Countries Following Russia Launch

Tuesday October 4, 2016 4:49 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Russia joined the Apple Pay club today, becoming the 10th major region to gain access to the mobile payment service (via Reuters).

The introduction of Apple Pay was announced on Apple's regional website, where it was revealed that the system would come via Mastercard and through Moscow-based Sberbank.

Apple-pay-mastercard
According to Sberbank, Apple Pay can be easily set up in the Sberbank Online mobile application, which will be familiar to all Sberbank cardholders. Users can then use the contactless payment service while continuing to receive all the benefits from using their credit and debit cards.

If rollouts in other countries are any indication, additional credit card operators and regional financial institutions are expected to gain access over the coming months.

Upon launch of Apple Pay in Russia, participating retailers include ATAK, Magnit, Media Markt, Auchan, Azbuka Vkusa, bp, M.Video, TsUM and authorized Apple reseller re:Store. Contactless payments are expected to roll out at Electronics store Eldorado and Burger King in the near future.

With the introduction of macOS 10.12, web-based payments have become another feature of Apple Pay. However it remains to be seen when Russian apps and online vendors will support this or other in-app methods of online payment.

Apple announced its intention to bring the system to Russia during its iPhone 7 event last month, where it also said New Zealand would see Apple Pay come to its shores in the near future.

The ten countries Apple Pay is available in include the United States, United Kingdom, China, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, and Singapore. Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey has said Apple is "working rapidly" to expand the service to additional countries in Asia and Europe.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Russia
[ 95 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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Avatar
Marrakas
30 months ago
Still waiting in scandinavia. How long has it been now? Two years?
Rating: 13 Votes
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Neg4433
30 months ago
What about Germany? Come on Apple, really? Years have passed and we are still waiting for Apple Pay.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Hanzu Lao
30 months ago

Should read "available* in the United States." Sure it's here but it's far from being an accepted way to pay in most stores -- at the the ones I shop at least. When is the last time a major retailer signed up? Still waiting for Home Depot and the big grocery chains. Not having Target or CVS is a huge ding on ApplePay too.


It's funny how there are hundreds of banks offering it in the US and very few places you can use it, but in Europe NFC is old news and is supported almost everywhere, but just few banks offer it.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Hanzu Lao
30 months ago

Stuck in last decade? On the contrary, Apple Pay is mostly useful in countries where they still use the ancient magnetic strip swipe. This is a significant security issue which Apple Pay solves. Scandinavian banks, oth, employ the chip & pin system (and has done so for at least a decade) which is much more secure and also more convenient than the magnetic strip which means the most important benefit of Apple Pay would make very little difference there.
Scandinavian customers are perfectly happy using chip & pin so there's very little incentive for the banks to start sharing their transaction fees with Apple.

Wow, really? Chip and pin requires a card and even you have NFC enabled card you still need a card. Apple Pay removes most of the card fraud. since banks don't do it for free neither should Apple. What kind of stupid argument is that?
Rating: 4 Votes
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makr
30 months ago

I used my 6s (with an American credit card) at the German OBI.

You can use Apple Pay once its set up in your iPhone, just like using any other contactless card. Real problem is you cannot add a card issued by a German bank.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Chupa Chupa
30 months ago
Should read "available* in the United States." Sure it's here but it's far from being an accepted way to pay in most stores -- at the the ones I shop at least. When is the last time a major retailer signed up? Still waiting for Home Depot and the big grocery chains. Not having Target or CVS is a huge ding on ApplePay too.
Rating: 3 Votes
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smacrumon
30 months ago
Keep pushing, Apple.

The slow uptake suggests the payments industry is resisting change, but thankfully, it is slowly failing.
Rating: 3 Votes
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8692574
30 months ago

"With the introduction of macOS 12.12"

Wow! A new macOS, and they're missed the 11th edition too! Courage!

We are all running 13.13 already, please keep up to date...you are missing out...lots of useless features ;)
Rating: 3 Votes
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JGRE
30 months ago

And tell me, why shouldn't they protect their business, Apple also has one goal here, to make money out of it, money that is normally collected by the banks.
Don't get me wrong, I dislike banks as much as many others but Apple is nothing better here.


Don't agree, yes Apple wants our money, but at least they give you something back: a payment system where I do not need to carry a wallet full of plastic around all day. Bank apps are only starting to offer this, but this will only work in their local market. It will take the banks decades if ever, before they reach something were AP is today (Yep, even for AP still a long way to go).
Rating: 2 Votes
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truthertech
30 months ago

Glad to see the continued expansion. (Music and photography are the poster children, but based on my personal experience and observations, After those, AP has to be in contention for one of slickest and stickiest feature offerings within the ecosystem.)

Elsewhere it was noted that Apple's AP quarterback, Jennifer Bailey, indicated Apple's goal was to bring AP to the major markets where Apple does business.

As a shareholder, I'd have preferred the endgame be for Apple to offer AP in every market listed on Apple's store site.

If if your DNA is to bring life changing and enhancing tech to "people", you can't do them justice by looking at them as and bifurcating them into "major" and "minor" markets (especially if you are officially in their market earning revenue off them.)

Business necessarily consists of cherry picking but I have a hard time to make sense of it in the case of Excluding AP from markets where Apple has either an online or retail business.



You don't seem to understand that the delay isn't up to Apple. The banking system in each country will dictate it. If it was up to Apple, they would roll it out everywhere tomorrow
Rating: 2 Votes

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