Apple Pay Negotiations Still Ongoing in Germany as Hints of Pending Italian Launch Increase

Apple is "working rapidly" to expand Apple Pay to additional countries in Asia and Europe, and there's increasing evidence and reports that suggest the service may launch in Italy and Germany in the near future.

apple pay italy
Apple recently updated its Apple Pay participating banks and card issuers in Asia-Pacific support document with a new image of Europe that has Italy highlighted. The change isn't visible on the United States or Europe versions of the page, suggesting that it may have been added to the Asia-Pacific page prematurely.

italy apple pay grayscale circled
MacRumors discovered a colored version of the image stored on Apple's servers that makes it easier to see Italy highlighted.

italy apple pay blue
Apple's regional Italian website has listed Apple Pay as "coming soon" since March, so it's only a matter of time—WWDC?—before the payments service launches in the country. At launch, Apple Pay will work with Visa and MasterCard in Italy through participating banks UniCredit, Boon, and Carrefour Banca.

Meanwhile, German blog iPhone-Ticker reports that Apple Pay should launch in Germany in the fall or winter. As in some other countries, however, the negotiations between Apple and German banks allegedly continue to be challenging, likely as both sides struggle to reach an agreement over fees and control.

Last October, Germany was similarly highlighted on the Apple Pay availability map, but only for a brief period of time.

apple pay germany map
Apple Pay launched in the United States in October 2014, and it has since expanded to 14 other countries and regions: Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. There was also a rumor that Belgium could be added this month.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tags: Germany, Italy

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Another Vehicle Brand Gaining iPhone Car Keys Support

Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...

Top Rated Comments

Glassed Silver Avatar
111 months ago
Germany is a market with a lot of purchasing power and I expect Apple to try and establish a cut from the transactions as high as possible, meanwhile the banks have ZERO reason to rush an agreement as long as they are all very confident that Apple is asking too much I guess.

I mean, once they negotiate a rate I'm sure it will be harder to move away from it for banks especially.

Also, Germans are VERY reluctant to change banks, so their negotiation power in this is a lot higher than most other places.

Comments like "I changed banks to have Apple Pay" would be rather rare here save for the diehard Apple fans who read about Apple Pay every month on MR et all...

Meanwhile, a range of mobile payment options have long been available. Whilst less secure, less flexible or less convenient and integrated, many of them seem to cover that basic urge to pay with the phone just fine. Another hit to the negotiation power that Apple may have.

Glassed Silver:mac
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otternonsense Avatar
111 months ago
You mean, by the time Apple Pay arrives in the Netherlands it won't even be relevant anymore.;):p
I moved to Berlin ;)
[doublepost=1494628050][/doublepost]
How so? I mean, I can see some QR code based system eventually coming out on top in the US (for a bunch of reasons) but I'm not sure if there's something like that in Germany.
QR code based system?? Is it 2013 again? :rolleyes:
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheralSadurns Avatar
111 months ago
**** Germany and **** Germans with their backwards attitudes ALL THE ****ING TIME.

Whenever something... anything really... is NEW they immediately HATE it and dismiss it as nonsense. People who use such things are ridiculed on top of everything else.

Smartphones? HAHAHAHA NO ONE needs **** like this... SOOOO useless...
Meanwhile people in all other countries start using them.
5 years later... all of a sudden... smartphones are great in Germany too... and nobody even remembers dismissing them.

Same with tablets...

Non-cash payments...

Electric cars...

The list goes on and on.

I am so fed up with the people here...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MLVC Avatar
111 months ago
It needs to get a (Western) European rollout to be really successful, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Denmark, Austria e.g. need to be added as well. I understand that if you live in Berlin you don't travel abroad that easily but NRW e.g., they get around. People who live near borders easily shop in one country and have dinner in the other one these days.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fermat-au Avatar
111 months ago
Germany is a market with a lot of purchasing power and I expect Apple to try and establish a cut from the transactions as high as possible, meanwhile the banks have ZERO reason to rush an agreement as long as they are all very confident that Apple is asking too much I guess.

I mean, once they negotiate a rate I'm sure it will be harder to move away from it for banks especially.

Also, Germans are VERY reluctant to change banks, so their negotiation power in this is a lot higher than most other places.

Comments like "I changed banks to have Apple Pay" would be rather rare here save for the diehard Apple fans who read about Apple Pay every month on MR et all...

Meanwhile, a range of mobile payment options have long been available. Whilst less secure, less flexible or less convenient and integrated, many of them seem to cover that basic urge to pay with the phone just fine. Another hit to the negotiation power that Apple may have.

Glassed Silver:mac
The situation in Germany sounds a little like that in Australia, but to a greater extent in Germany. Here in Australia almost everyone has an NFC card and almost every were accepts NFC payments, but ApplePay is only available from one of the big four banks. It is my understanding that the issue in negotiation with three of the big banks is the transaction fee. In Australia the transaction fee is usually paid by the retailer and many retailer have a $10 minimum to pay by card or they charge the consumer 20c or 50c.

Apple design ApplePay for the US where NFC payments were still new and "cool", the problem for them is that in many other parts of the world NFC is already implemented, so Apple is in a far weaker negotiating position in relation to transaction fees.

Another issue that puts Apple is a weaker negotiating position in Germany, is the iPhone is far less popular there than US, UK or AU.


source ('https://mspoweruser.com/here-are-the-kantar-smartphone-market-share-numbers-for-march-2017/').
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pakaku Avatar
111 months ago
**** Germany and **** Germans with their backwards attitudes ALL THE ****ING TIME.

Whenever something... anything really... is NEW they immediately HATE it and dismiss it as nonsense. People who use such things are ridiculed on top of everything else.

Smartphones? HAHAHAHA NO ONE needs **** like this... SOOOO useless...
Meanwhile people in all other countries start using them.
5 years later... all of a sudden... smartphones are great in Germany too... and nobody even remembers dismissing them.

Same with tablets...

Non-cash payments...

Electric cars...

The list goes on and on.

I am so fed up with the people here...
Sounds just like Macrumors half the time
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)