Australia's Westpac Bank Announces Upcoming Support for Apple Pay
Westpac, the second largest bank in Australia, has announced plans to implement support for Apple Pay across its brands in 2020, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
Apple Pay is now available for the St. George, BankSA, and Bank of Melbourne brands. Customers of these banks with an eligible Visa debit or credit card can now use Apple Pay for contactless payments and online purchases in Australia.
Westpac customers will have access to Apple Pay by June 2020, and the rollout to the main Westpac brand is said to take longer because Westpac currently uses a different banking platform. As the Westpac system is updated, Apple Pay will be rolling out for its regional brands.
"We want to assure Westpac customers we are working to bring them Apple Pay as quickly as possible, while we roll-out the technology across our different banking platforms," said chief executive of consumer banking David Lindberg.
Westpac has been a notable Apple Pay holdout and is the fourth of Australia's "big four" banks to implement support for Apple Pay. Along with NAB and Commonwealth Bank, Westpac attempted to collectively bargain with Apple in an attempt to force Apple to open up the iPhone's NFC capabilities to support other digital wallets, like those offered by Westpac itself.
Apple argued that this would be harmful to consumers and would stifle innovation, and Australian regulators took Apple's side in the dispute. The banks were not provided with authorization to collectively bargain with Apple.
ANZ, one of the four major banks, has supported Apple Pay since it launched in Australia. Commonwealth Bank, Australia's largest bank, has supported Apple Pay since January 2019, and NAB implemented support in May 2019.
Popular Stories
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device.
Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors.
Rumors
Faster Wi-Fi Support
The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive.
If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models.
Latest Rumors
These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device.
Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable
5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2
Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models with displays made by BOE will be sold exclusively in China, according to a new report.
Last week, it emerged that Chinese display manufacturer BOE was aggressively ramping up its OLED production capacity for future iPhone models as part of a plan to recapture a major role in Apple's supply chain.
Now, tech news aggregator Jukan Choi reports...
The iOS 26 public beta release is quickly approaching, while developers have recently gotten their hands on a third round of betas that has seen Apple continue to tweak features, design, and functionality.
We're also continuing to hear rumors about the iPhone 17 lineup that is now just about right around the corner, while Apple's latest big-budget film appears to be taking off, so read on...
Apple will launch a new 12th generation entry-level iPad in the spring of next year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Apple is said to have two versions of the entry-level 11-inch iPad in development, codenamed J581 and J582. These could refer to different storage capacities – in which case, Apple may be planning to drop the existing lowest capacity option. The current iPad 11 is...
