Apple Pay Coming to Canada This Year, Even Without Bank Support
Apple this week said it will bring Apple Pay to Canada this year as part of a global rollout.
The catch? The service will be limited to American Express cardholders, which suggests that Canadian banks are not supporting the initial launch. AE cards account for a very small percentage of credit cards in Canada and is not carried by most of our national banks.
“Apple Pay will be available to eligible American Express customers in Australia and Canada this year,” CEO Tim Cook said during a conference call.
Apple Pay, an NFC-powered option that turns iPhones into digital payment machines, is only one from several digital payment solutions available to consumers in Canada and around the world. Still, because of the breadth of Apple, it’s expected to be one of the more popular options. Cook says Apple Pay is seeing double-digit growth in transactions.
Prior to the conference call, Apple released its quarterly earnings. The company posted quarterly revenue of $51.5 billion (US) and quarterly net profit of $11.1 billion, or $1.96 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $42.1 billion and net profit of $8.5 billion, or $1.42 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
“Fiscal 2015 was Apple’s most successful year ever, with revenue growing 28% to nearly $234 billion,” Cook said.
