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Apple Pay goes live in Canada for American Express customers

Apple Pay goes live in Canada for American Express customers

By Nick Statt, is a Senior Producer on Decoder. Previously, he wrote about technology and gaming for Naavik, Protocol, and The Verge.

Via MacRumors | Source Apple

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Apple Pay now supports American Express customers in Canada, making the country the third region after the US and the UK to get access — albeit it limited — to the mobile payments service. The news, reported first by MacRumors, comes a day after American Express confirmed the launch date to tech site iPhone in Canada.

As it stands, Apple Pay is limited to American Express in Canada because no other banks or credit card companies, some of which are working on competing mobile payments services, have struck deals with the company. Apple first confirmed plans to bring Apple Pay to Canada — as well as Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, and Singapore — on an earnings call last month. The service may launch in Australia with American Express as early as later this week, according to a report today from Financial Post.

Apple is working to add more banks to speed up adoption

Canadians interested in trying Apple Pay should now be able to do so within the Wallet app on iPhones running iOS 9.1. An "Add Credit or Debit card" option will let you scan or manually enter the information from an American Express card and begun using your iPhone to pay at locations like McDonald's, Tim Hortons, and other retailers with NFC-equipped point-of-sale terminals.

Only American Express cards issued directly from the company will work for now, leaving out cards issued in partnership with other non-participating banks. Apple is reportedly in talks to add support for the Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, and National Bank of Canada, according to an April report from The Wall Street Journal.

Verge Video: Using Apple Pay in the real world

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