Apple Pay Launches in Iceland

Apple Pay arrived unexpectedly in Iceland today, allowing bank customers to use Apple's mobile payment system for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch wherever they see the contactless logo.

apple pay iceland bank card


International payment solutions company Valitor is said to have played a key role in bringing ‌Apple Pay‌ to the country, with Landsbankinn and Arion banki among the first Icelandic banks to announce support for the digital wallet.

As to which country will get the next ‌Apple Pay‌ rollout, it's currently a toss-up between The Netherlands and Portugal, where regional banks have teased that Apple's contactless payment system is "coming soon."

‌Apple Pay‌ first launched in the United States in October 2014 and is also available in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Japan, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Ireland, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in March that ‌Apple Pay‌ will be available in more than 40 countries and regions by the end of 2019.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Iceland

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
M4 Mac mini Apple Video

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum. In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs. The issue is...
M4 mini Glowing Blue

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished M4 Macs

Wednesday February 12, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today added MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 series chips to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland for the first time since the computers were introduced in October 2024. Some refurbished MacBook Pro models with M4 chips are also available in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and select other European countries. ...
Apple Ad on X

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...
iPhone 16 Apple Store

iPhone 17 in New Sizes This Year: What to Know

Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know. Standard iPhone 17 Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...

Top Rated Comments

SBlue1 Avatar
75 months ago
Just came here for the dutch comments... :D
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maartenz95 Avatar
75 months ago
I hope this means a launch in the Netherlands is very close..
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
simonmet Avatar
75 months ago
I hope this means a launch in the Netherlands is very close..
I hope for your sake you get it soon too. It’s a revelation and I can’t live without it. I use it for 95% of purchases and even changed banks to access it in Australia.

It’s also way more secure than physical bank cards. If you lose a bank card or it gets skimmed/duplicated you have to suspend most access to your account and it takes a week or more to get a replacement. No wonder people want NFC purchasing in phones.

I rarely even bother taking a physical card out anymore unless I know I need cash, but many banks do cardless cash withdrawal at ATMs now too, just not mine yet unfortunately.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jdmachogg Avatar
75 months ago
You have omitted Czechia, Austria etc… Well, that's Central Europe, who would bother with these countries. :(
++ Germany. It's the second time they have. MacRumors editors aren't the sharpest tools in the box.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pancakesrockyvalley Avatar
75 months ago
When did they announce it was coming to Iceland?

Asking because a local bank in Portugal announced on April 12th that Apple Pay was coming soon and up until now it’s nowhere to be seen.

How long between the announcement and the actual launch?
It was announced this morning around 8am. It is a total suprise. The infrastructure has been ready for few years, so it was a matter of Apple and the banks to make a deal.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iBluetooth Avatar
75 months ago
Til hamingju Ísland!
[doublepost=1557348185][/doublepost]The country launch isn't so important as the bank and retailer uptake.
I'm in New Zealand, who've had it for a few years now, and my bank (Kiwi Bank) still don't offer it.
Westpac & ANZ are the only 2 banks here to offer Apple Pay. It was just ANZ until Westpac recently gave in and joined. This is all due to the Australian cartel of banks trying to force Apple to "let them in" on NFC.
Recently a retailer told me that the "Pay Wave" (contactless pay point) system costs more per transaction which is why so many retailers here in NZ don't offer it.
So the real news in any country announcement is how many banks (or what percentage) ?
⅔ of main banks, or 66%. That lone bank was asked when they would support it. They got cought, Oops, so they said they were working on it and gave few weeks until ready. Someone didn’t do his job there!
[doublepost=1557350034][/doublepost]
Another 200,000 adult users, potentially. And that's not counting tourists from nearby continents.

Go, Tim, go!
Actually Apple Pay worked in Iceland for tourists with foreign ApplePay cards for two years until now, that the locals can use it
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)