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

Top Rated Comments

alexandr Avatar
45 months ago
given the size of the country, they should be done end of week.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
daPersonB Avatar
45 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
45 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
45 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
45 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
45 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)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven

Apple Reportedly Stops Production of FineWoven Accessories

Sunday April 21, 2024 6:03 am PDT by
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store [Updated]

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, GameCube, Wii,...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
apple vision pro orange

Apple Vision Pro Customer Interest Dying Down at Some Retail Stores

Monday April 22, 2024 2:12 am PDT by
Apple Vision Pro, Apple's $3,500 spatial computing device, appears to be following a pattern familiar to the AR/VR headset industry – initial enthusiasm giving way to a significant dip in sustained interest and usage. Since its debut in the U.S. in February 2024, excitement for the Apple Vision Pro has noticeably cooled, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On...
top stories 20apr2024

Top Stories: Nintendo Emulators on App Store, Two New iOS 17 Features, and More

Saturday April 20, 2024 6:00 am PDT by
It was a big week for retro gaming fans, as iPhone users are starting to reap the rewards of Apple's recent change to allow retro game emulators on the App Store. This week also saw a new iOS 17.5 beta that will support web-based app distribution in the EU, the debut of the first hotels to allow for direct AirPlay streaming to room TVs, a fresh rumor about the impending iPad Air update, and...