By
Tolu Ajiboye
April 8th, 2024
Apple Pay’s availability in Switzerland marks the second European launch of the service.
Apple is continuing European expansion – this time the company launches its mobile payment service Apple Pay in Switzerland, marking the second European launch after the United Kingdom.
The news announced through Apple’s regional website, means that iPhone users in Switzerland can now use Apple Pay by setting up their Visa and MasterCard bank cards in Apple Wallet. The service is available only for users of iPhone with integrated NFC chip – iPhone 6, iPhone 6s or iPhone SE.
Even if you have a non-NFC iPhone, Apple Pay works via Apple Watch as well. Apple reveals that it is planning to launch Apple Pay for websites with support for Macs running macOS Sierra later this year.
iOS users in Switzerland can use Apple Pay through more than 100,000 contactless terminals all over the country. As for now, three banks – Bonus Card, CornerCard and SwissBankers – have signed up to support the service. To check if a bank card is eligible, you can just try to add the account in the Apple Pay app.
Apple announced the upcoming availability of Apple Pay in Switzerland at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Next countries to get access to the mobile payment service are France and Hong Kong. However, Apple keeps silent about the exact launch dates. With current expansion of Apple Pay, the company focuses on Asian and European markets. According to Apple Pay chief Jennifer Bailey, Apple plans to bring Apple Pay to every major market in which Apple products are sold.
“First, we look at the size of the market for Apple products. We also look at credit and debit card penetration, and contactless payment coverage,” Bailey said. “When we bring Apple Pay to market even when contactless is low it will grow — it was 4 percent in the U.S. but is now 20 percent. We also work with our network partners, where we can utilize integration with Amex and Visa, to go to market quickly.”
Pay with Apple Pay option
Last month, Apple added “Pay with Apple Pay” option to the checkout part on their sites. Apple Pay button is now available only in Safari. The purchase is authenticated through Touch ID on the phone or watch. “When you are ready to check out online, Apple’s Continuity feature will pull up a prompt on your phone or watch to quickly authentically and complete your purchase. You’ll either use Touch ID on your phone or tap your pre-authenticated watch to confirm the purchase, which will automatically process in the browser.”
Apple’s initiative primarily aims at facilitation of shopping process. Indeed, the less time you spend tracking down your credit card and finding the right security code to input, the more time you have to decide whether you really need this purchase or not.