Apple Pay partners with American Express to launch service in Australia and Canada

Apple Pay will be launched in Australia by the end of 2015.

The Cupertino giant collaborated with American Express internationally to expand its digital payment service in key markets like Australia and Canada by the end of this year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook made the announcement while discussing the company’s financial results earlier this week, confirming that the Apple Pay badge icon which had started showing up in Apple Map’s app listing for Coles and Woolworth’s supermarket chains in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, were not just rumours. The company also aims to expand the service in Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain in 2016.

After the roll-out, American Express card holders will be able to make purchases through their registered iPhones via contactless payment terminals in Australia.

However, uptake by customers is not guaranteed, as many financial institutions are already offering cardless cash services, such as PayPass, which are widely used by customers. Earlier this summer, Verifone also partnered with Westpac Group, including major financial institutions like St. George, Bank of Melbourne and Bank SA, to provide full terminal management support through its payment platform.

Apple Pay is compatible with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and Apple Watch. The service is currently available in the U.S. and the U.K., and uses near-field communication (NFC) chips embedded in the devices along with its Touch ID fingerprint scanner to make payments for goods and services.

Apple announced record breaking Q4 financial results on Tuesday with a quarterly revenue of US$51.5 billion (AU$72.52 billion) and quarterly net profit of US$11.1 billion (AU$15.63 billion).

Apple Pay is still struggling to strike a deal with UnionPay and other financial institutions in China to launch the service in the country.

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