Apple Pay to launch in Canada on Nov. 17 in partnership with Amex
Apple Pay is set to expand into Canada soon … very soon.
As confirmed by iPhone in Canada (via MacRumors), Apple’s mobile payment and digital wallet service is scheduled to be launched in the northern North American country in just a few days — on Nov. 17, to be exact. And the service’s launch comes as a result of an exclusive partnership with American Express aka Amex.
“According to American Express, the service is set to launch this Tuesday, November 17, 2015,” the site reports, adding that customer service representatives at the financial services company “confirmed the date over the phone numerous times.”
Why only Amex?
Apple’s decision to debut Apple Pay in Canada with Amex as its sole banking and credit-card partner is said to have been made so as to speed up the launch of the service in the country, which has long been rumored to take place in November. According to a report by The Globe and Mail late last month, Apple’s negotiations with Canadian banks and other credit-card networks have been “dragging.”
In addition to Canada, Apple’s partnership with Amex is expected to bring about the launch of Apple Pay in Australia later this year and Hong Kong and Singapore next year.
Whither Apple Pay?
Apple Pay is a mobile payment system that allows users to link credit and debit cards, and make payments at contactless points of sale in shops and in apps using compatible iOS devices. Announced alongside the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus in September last year, Apple Pay was first launched in the U.S. in October. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, it quickly became the largest mobile payment system yet as it accepted more than 1 million credit card registrations during its first three days of availability.
But the service’s international rollout has been rather slow. Following the U.S., it took nine months before it arrived in another country: It was launched in the U.K. in July this year.
It’s long been rumored to launch eventually, if not imminently, in other important markets such as China, Africa, India, and the Middle East.
However, you can use Apple Pay at contactless points of sale in shops around the world so long as your linked cards are issued by Apple Pay’s partner banks and financial institutions in the countries where it has been launched.
