Apple Pay Coming to Israel By End of Year, Now Available at Bank of Ireland

Apple has signed an agreement with one of Israel's leading credit card companies to bring Apple Pay to the country by the end of the year, according to Ynet.

isracard
Isracard announced to the stock exchange that it has signed an agreement with Apple for four years that will allow its card to be used in Apple's digital payment method.

Apple has been in negotiations with financial institutions in the Middle East to bring ‌Apple Pay‌ to Israel since February. Apple routinely takes commission from national banking institutions in return for access to ‌‌Apple Pay‌, and it appears that Isracard is the first credit card company in the country to formulate an agreement with Apple.

Many Israeli businesses have already adopted the Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) standard for mobiles, allowing customer account credentials to be loaded directly onto NFC-enabled smartphones and used in contactless transactions.

Unlike Android devices, Apple's devices don't allow access to the NFC chip through apps other than Apple's own Wallet app, which means financial bodies must sign an ‌‌Apple Pay‌‌ agreement that allows the card to be registered in the Wallet.

Apple maintains a complete list of the countries where ‌‌‌Apple Pay‌‌‌ is available on its support site, and we have a detailed Apple Pay roundup with everything you need to know about Apple's payments service.

Update: ‌Apple Pay‌ is also now available at Bank of Ireland.

(Thanks, Ohad and forum member iLoveDeveloping!)

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Israel

Popular Stories

apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
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 ...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
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...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
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 ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
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 16 pro pro max

iPhone 17 Pro Models With BOE Displays Will Be Sold in China Only

Thursday July 10, 2025 11:59 pm PDT by
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...
top stories 2025 07 12

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, iOS 26 Beta 3, and More

Saturday July 12, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
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...

Top Rated Comments

alexandr Avatar
61 months ago
given the size of the country, they should be done end of week.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
daPersonB Avatar
61 months ago

Things with Apple Pay roll out are almost always due to banks. Every institution needs to strike a deal and license to be able to have the technology available on their cards.

Even in the US we have certain debit/credit cards that don't support Apple Pay, even if other cards issued by the same exact bank do.
Not necessarily.. Apparently, Apple's commission of 0.15% to 0.25% was a bit high for the banks and other institutions, and after an extensive negotiation, Apple agreed to lower the commission to 0.05% (which is, in fact, one of the lowest rates compared to states where Apple Pay is currently available).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eyalben Avatar
61 months ago

Not aware of any ARM manufacturing going on in Israel, but even if there is, what is the connection between chip manufacturing and merchants accepting Apple Pay?
There isn’t any connection ?‍♂️

Apple’s development center in Israel is the one responsible for the Apple chips design, not the manufacturing.

On the other hand, some of Intel’s CPUs are designed and manufactured in Israel so Apple transition to ARM could potentially affect Intel’s business in this country.

It is still unrelated to Apple Pay :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DinkThifferent Avatar
61 months ago
I’m surprised that it took this long. I always thought that because Israel is kind of a tech hub in the Middle East things like Apple Pay would come sooner.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
61 months ago

wasn’t ARM UK made?
The team behind the new cpu chips are an Israeli company; in the keynote they should the guy speaking about it from Israel my mate works for high tech in Israel
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
votdfak Avatar
61 months ago

If needs to take off the mask to pay than is better to use the credit card folks!
Does not apply for Apple Watch. That's the best way to enjoy Apple Pay.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)