Apple Pay Launches in Israel
As reported by local outlet The Verifier, Apple Pay has officially launched in Israel following multiple reports suggesting an imminent launch sometime this year.
Ever since its launch in the United States in 2014, Apple Pay has slowly expanded to more countries worldwide while at the same time expanding the list of financial institutions that support the feature. With Apple Pay, users can easily add their credit or debit cards from supported banks to their iPhone and Apple Watch to make purchases at contactless payment terminals around the world. Apple Pay is also available on the Mac for web purchases.
At launch, there may be some banks that don't yet have support for Apple Pay; however, the list of supported banks will grow with time. Users can add a card to Apple Pay by heading over to the Wallet app on iPhone, pressing the plus button in the top-right hand corner, and following the on-screen prompts.
Top Stories
Apple today sent out an emails informing Apple Pay users about a Mother's Day promotion that offers discounts from several stores when using Apple Pay to make a purchase.
The following discounts are available: 1-800-Flowers - $15 off when spending $39.99 or more with code APPLEPAY. J.Crew - $25 off $150 or more with code APPLEPAY. Uncommon Goods - 15 percent off selected items...
Amtrak customers who purchase trips with the Amtrak app or the Amtrak website can now pay for those fares using Apple Pay, Amtrak announced today.
Following the implementation of new mobile payment methods, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal are all are available as payment options in addition to credit cards, gift cards, and vouchers.
When checking out after choosing a route, Apple Pay...
After several false dawns, Apple Pay looks finally ready to come to Israel early next month, based on local reports.
According to Hebrew-language site Calcalist, barring a last-minute change, Apple is expected to launch its digital payment system in the country in the first week of May.
Several previous reports over the last year have hinted at an imminent Apple Pay launch in Israel, but...
Popular cryptocurrency platform Coinbase appears to be working to make its Visa Debit Card, Coinbase Card, compatible with Apple Pay for purchases in stores, in apps, and online.
MacRumors has discovered evidence of upcoming Apple Pay support for Coinbase Card in the Coinbase app code in the form of a recently added image asset called "CardGoogleApplePay."
The company's Coinbase Card for...
Apple today introduced a new mini website that's dedicated to the Wallet app on the iPhone, highlighting the benefits and features that are available.
Apple explains that debit and credit cards can be added to the Wallet app "with no added effort," making them available for Apple Pay. The site also promotes Apple Cash and Apple Card, both Wallet app features, as well as transit cards that...
Apple added an Apple Pay landing page to its regional Mexico website late on Tuesday, indicating the mobile payment system could launch in the country imminently. Way back in March there were suggestions that Apple Pay could be coming to Mexico, after reports that some iPhone users in the country had been able to add their Banregio cards to the Wallet app, with only the verification process ...
Apple today sent out emails informing iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac users about a new spring Apple Pay promotion, which offers discounts for a number of stores through May 26.
Apple Pay users can get discounts at stores like PacSun, Persol, and Under Armour, with a full list of deals available below. Alice + Olivia - 20% off when spending $250 or more with promo code APPLEPAY. Deal ...
Visa has announced that starting today, customers in Japan will be able to use their Visa debit or credit card with Apple Pay.
Customers with Visa cards issued by Aplus, SMBC Finance Service, NTT DoCoMo, Credit Saison, JACCS, Mitsui Sumitomo Bank Card, and Rakuten cards will be able to add their card to their Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch.
Japan has set an ambitious goal of...
Popular cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase today announced that the Coinbase Card now supports Apple Pay and Google Pay. Select customers will be invited from the Coinbase Card waitlist starting this week.
Coinbase Card is a debit card, so signing up will not impact your credit score, and there are no application fees. Once you are approved for the card, you can immediately begin...
Navigo cards for travelling on the Paris metro and bus network are now supported on iPhone, with the ability to "recharge" passes using Apple Pay (via iGeneration).
Last week, it was rumored that Apple had reached an agreement for Navigo cards to work with NFC on iPhone, and now the feature has arrived with the latest update to the Navigo app from Paris's transport authority, Ile-de-France ...
Top Rated Comments
If you are a bank in Israel, it doesn't give you any competitive advantage to support Apple Pay. Until the first bank in the country adopts it. Then you are in danger of losing customers to that bank, so suddenly all the other banks are keen to support ApplePay as well. Apple has to convince ONE bank in a country.
Israel had two problems. One is standard for payments which was using a local design that was not supporting international contactless payment until last year (Apple Pay support only started last year in Israel when they finally officially supported EMV, not ever, don’t make stuff up), and second is the availability of contactless points in businesses which also only started to be common last year.
then they needed to support apple system which required the regulate body to approve which also took time because of the mess politically they are.
That also took until mid last year.
then, when all that hurdle was done, they were able to release support. The regulator said they can release support now, and they all worked to make it work at the same time.
israel banks and credit companies wanted to support it since 2017 but the regulator did not approve.
As I’ve learned overtime the greatest hurdle for apple pay is the archaic way of processing card payments in most countries: they have only one or two local companies that act as switches to process payments. Since they usually can’t handle the tokens generated by Apple Pay, that makes it impossible to implement apple pay with locally issued bank cards until Visa and Mastercard are allowed to operate as local switches too. That’s why Apple Pay took so long to arrive to countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and, I bet, Israel too.