Apple Pay

The service is compatible with iPhone 6 and newer, iPad Air 2 and newer, Macs with Touch ID, and Apple Watch Series 1 and later. It can store between 8 and 16 cards (passes such as loyalty cards and tickets do not count against this limit.)[3]

Apple Pay uses[4] the EMV Payment Tokenisation Specification.[5]

The service keeps customer payment information private from the retailer by replacing the customer's credit or debit card Funding Primary Account Number (FPAN) with a tokenized Device Primary Account Number (DPAN), and creates a "dynamic security code [...] generated for each transaction".[6] The 'dynamic security code' is the cryptogram in an EMV-mode transaction, and the Dynamic Card Verification Value (dCVV) in a magnetic stripe data emulation-mode transaction. Apple added that they would not track usage, which would stay between the customers, the vendors, and the banks. Users can also remotely halt the service on a lost phone via the Find My iPhone service.[6]

To pay at points of sale, users hold their authenticated Apple device to the point of sale system's NFC card reader. iPhone users authenticate by using Touch ID, Face ID,[6][7] or passcode,[7] whereas Apple Watch users authenticate by double-clicking a button on an unlocked device.[8] To pay in supported iOS apps, users choose Apple Pay as their payment method and authenticate with Touch ID or Face ID.[6] Users can add payment cards to the service in any of four ways: through the payment card listed on their iTunes accounts, by taking a photo of the card, being provisioned from within the card issuer's app, or by entering the card information manually.

Although users receive immediate notification of the transaction, the Apple Pay system is not an instant payment instrument, because the fund transfer between counter-parties is not immediate.[9] The settlement time depends on the payment method chosen by the customer. (An exception being payments made using a card which stores the user's balance on the card itself, such as a Japanese Suica card or a Hong Kong Octopus card. These cards can transfer funds directly to the merchant without the need for an online connection.)

In the United Kingdom, traditional contactless payments using bank cards are limited to £100 (previously £45 until 14 October 2021)[10] as no cardholder authentication is provided as part of the transaction. Payments using Apple Pay, however, support payments of any amount owing to the increased security and lower risk of fraud in Apple Pay transactions (although some issuing banks may impose their own transaction limits, and not all contactless readers support this functionality – see CDCVM below).[11] Similar transaction limits apply in other countries.

Apple assumes some liability for fraudulent use of the service.[6] Banks are expected to carry the burden of the service, and Apple is said to have negotiated smaller transaction fees. In turn, the banks hoped to capture purchases that were formerly handled without credit.[12] Financial Times reported that Apple receives 0.15% cut of US purchases made with the service,[13] but, following the UK launch, reported that Apple's cut is much lower in the UK. This is largely because Regulation (EU) 2015/751 capped interchange fees in the European Economic Area at 0.3% for personal credit cards and 0.2% for personal debit cards with effect from June 8, 2015.[14][15] In Russia, Apple receives 0.05% for debit cards and 0.12% for credit cards of each purchase, in addition, the bank pays 45 rubles a year for each card added in the service.[16]

In EMV-mode transactions, Apple Pay supports the use of the Consumer Device Cardholder Verification Method (CDCVM) using Touch ID, Face ID, or the phone's or watch's passcode. The use of CDCVM allows for the device itself to provide verification for the transaction and may not require the cardholder to sign a receipt or enter their PIN. Additionally, in certain markets which have a 'no verification contactless limit' using contactless cards (such as the £100 limit in the United Kingdom and the C$100 limit in Canada and the 300SAR limit in Saudi Arabia), the use of CDCVM can enable merchants to accept transactions higher than these amounts using Apple Pay, providing their terminal software is updated to support the latest network contactless specifications.[17]

Since iOS 12.3, supported credit and debit cards, as well as some stored-value transport cards (such as Shanghai & Beijing transit cards, Octopus Card, Suica, MTA and TriMet) can be used to pay for journeys on certain public transport networks without requiring the user to authenticate the payment with Touch ID or Face ID.[18] Once a supported credit, debit or transit card is selected as a user's Express Transit/Travel card, the user can simply hold their device near the card reader, for example at ticket barriers, to initiate or authorise payment for the journey.

Within iOS, the functionality is labelled as "Express Transit" in North America and "Express Travel" in most other English-speaking countries, because "transit" in most varieties of English has a narrower meaning of travelling through a jurisdiction or airport during a journey as opposed to travel or transport in general.

On iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and later, Express Transit/Travel cards can be used up to five hours on Power Reserve after the device has powered off due to a drained battery. The typical low-battery icon will display with "Express Cards Available" text appearing at the bottom of the display, letting users know that Express Transit/Travel is still available for usage.

(Express Mode more generally is also available for contactless student ID cards stored in the Wallet app[19] as well as digital car keys.[20]

A security flaw was reported in September 2021 whereby Visa cards configured for Express Travel/Transit can be charged with unlimited amounts by non-transport merchants without user authentication.[21][22][23]

About two-thirds of merchants accept Apple Pay, but many terminals don't.[24] Due to provisioning differences between countries (and even between issuers), users may encounter acceptance issues when travelling to a different country. Some known examples include:

• Canada, UK, Saudi Arabia, and possibly other non-US-issued Visa cards only support EMV-mode transactions and not legacy magnetic-stripe data-emulation transactions. Some contactless terminals in the US do not support EMV-mode contactless transactions (even if they support EMV contact transactions), and therefore these visitors to the US will receive a 'Could Not Complete Payment' error on the iPhone screen and an error on the terminal when attempting to use Apple Pay.

Apple Cash, formerly Apple Pay Cash, is a feature that allows the transfer of money from one user to another via iMessage. When a user receives a payment, the funds are deposited in the recipient's Apple Cash card, where it is available for immediate use at merchants that accept Apple Pay. Prior to April 2022, the Apple Cash Card was provisioned as a Discover Contactless Debit card. Apple Cash Device Account Numbers currently are issued/reissued on the Visa payment network ensuring a larger acceptance for the Apple Cash card at more merchants.

Alternatively, the user can choose to transfer the balance to a nominated bank account via ACH transfer. Apple Cash is only available in the United States.[25][26]

Apple Pay can be used with cards issued in 74 countries and territories worldwide.[46] It can also be used in some “unsupported” countries, albeit only with foreign cards.

Date launched	Support for payment cards issued in
October 20, 2014	United States (except  Puerto Rico & other unincorporated territories)
July 14, 2015	United Kingdom (excluding British Overseas Territories)
November 17, 2015	Canada
November 19, 2015	Australia
February 18, 2016	China
April 19, 2016	Singapore
July 7, 2016	Switzerland
July 19, 2016	France
	Monaco
July 20, 2016	Hong Kong
October 4, 2016	Russia (Suspended on March 25, 2022)[note 1]
October 13, 2016	New Zealand
October 25, 2016	Japan
December 1, 2016	Spain
March 7, 2017	Guernsey
	Ireland
	Isle of Man
	Jersey
March 29, 2017	Taiwan
May 17, 2017	Italy
	San Marino
	Vatican City
October 24, 2017	Denmark
	Greenland
	Finland
	Sweden
	United Arab Emirates
April 4, 2018	Brazil
May 17, 2018	Ukraine
June 19, 2018	Poland
June 20, 2018	Norway
November 28, 2018	Kazakhstan
	Belgium
December 11, 2018	Germany
February 19, 2019	Czech Republic
	Saudi Arabia
April 24, 2019	Austria
May 8, 2019	Iceland
May 21, 2019	Hungary
	Luxembourg
June 11, 2019	Netherlands
June 26, 2019	European Union (All Parts)
	Bulgaria
	Croatia
	Cyprus (except  Northern Cyprus)
	Estonia
	Greece
	Latvia
	Liechtenstein
	Lithuania
	Malta
	Portugal
	Romania
	Slovakia
	Slovenia
July 2, 2019	Faroe Islands
August 6, 2019	Macau
September 3, 2019	Georgia
November 19, 2019	Belarus
January 28, 2020	Montenegro
June 30, 2020	Serbia
February 23, 2021	Mexico
March 30, 2021	South Africa
May 5, 2021	Israel
August 17, 2021	Qatar
October 5, 2021	Bahrain
	Palestine
November 2, 2021	Azerbaijan
	Colombia
	Costa Rica
January 18, 2022	Armenia
March 15, 2022	Argentina
	Peru [49]
April 5, 2022	Moldova
August 9, 2022	Malaysia

• Visa (worldwide. Japanese Visa cards in Apple Pay also function as FeliCa-based QUICPay or iD cards in addition to EMV contactless cards, although some issuers do not support EMV contactless in Apple Pay, meaning such cards will only function as QUICPay or iD cards.)[50]
• Visa Electron (worldwide)
• V Pay (only in Europe)[51]
• Mastercard (worldwide. Japanese Mastercard cards in Apple Pay also function as FeliCa-based QUICPay or iD cards in addition to EMV contactless cards, although some issuers do not support EMV contactless in Apple Pay, meaning such cards will only function as QUICPay or iD cards.)[52]
• Maestro (worldwide)
• American Express (worldwide. Japanese American Express cards in Apple Pay also function as FeliCa-based QUICPay cards in addition to EMV contactless cards.)[53]
• Discover Card (only in the United States)[54]
• U.S. Debit (only in the U.S. CDCVM may not be supported, requiring the customer to enter their PIN on the terminal.)
• Diners Club International (only in Japan. Only function as FeliCa-based QUICPay cards and do not support the global EMV contactless standard.)
• JCB (worldwide. Japanese JCB cards in Apple Pay also function as FeliCa-based QUICPay or iD cards in addition to EMV contactless cards, although some issuers do not support EMV contactless in Apple Pay, meaning such cards will only function as QUICPay or iD cards.)
• Cartes Bancaires (CB) (only in France) [55]
• Interac (only in Canada) [56]
• EFTPOS (only in Australia)[57]
• China UnionPay (worldwide)[58]
• China T-Union (select cities in China)
• Suica, PASMO, iD, QUICPay, WAON, and nanaco (only in Japan. FeliCa-supported iPhone and Apple Watch models only.)[59][60][61]
• SPTC transit card (only in Shanghai) [62]
• Yikatong (only in Beijing)[63]
• mada (only in Saudi Arabia)[64]
• Clipper (only in San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States)[65]
• Hop Fastpass (only in Portland, Oregon, United States)[66]
• SmarTrip (only in Washington, D.C., United States)[67]
• TAP (only in Los Angeles, California, United States)[68]
• Ventra (only in Chicago, Illinois, United States)[69]
• Elo (only in Brazil)[70]
• Octopus (only in Hong Kong. FeliCa-supported iPhone and Apple Watch models only.)[71]
• girocard (only in Germany)[72]
• Mir (only in Russia,[73] suspended as of March 26, 2022[48])
• Bancontact (only in Belgium)[74]

These programs are conveyed through NFC via Apple Pay's VAS protocol. Programs that support One Tap are conveyed at the same time as a payment card stored in Apple Wallet. Conversely, Two Tap programs are redeemed in a sequential manner, where a loyalty pass is scanned first, and then payment can be presented.[75]

For public transport systems where payment cards can be used, passengers can travel with Apple Pay without authenticating each transaction. Transit cards that support direct provisioning can be issued within the Apple Wallet app itself, without needing to download a separate third-party application. Express Transit/Travel mode is available in the following places:[93]

Country/Region	Scenario	Direct provisioning	Fare Payment Method(s)
Belarus	All stations of Minsk Metro		Payment cards
China mainland[94]	All forms of transit and stores that accept Beijing Transit cards		Beijing Transit Card[note 2]
	All forms of transit that accept Shanghai Transit cards and selected forms of transit that accept China City Union cards		Shanghai Transit Card[note 2]
	All forms of transit that accept China T-Union cards		Beijing T-Union Transit Card, Changsha Transit Card, Changzhou Transit Card, Chaozhou Transit Card, Dalian Transit Card, Foshan Transit Card, Guangzhou Transit Card, Heyuan Transit Card, Jiangmen Transit Card, Jieyang Transit Card, Jinan Transit Card, Lhasa Transit Card, Maoming Transit Card, Nanchang Transit Card, Nanjing Transit Card, Ningbo Transit Card, Shanwei Transit Card, Shanghai T-Union Transit Card, Shaoguan Transit Card, Shenzhen Transit Card, Shijiazhuang Transit Card, Suzhou Transit Card, Taizhou Transit Card, Tianjin Transit Card, Xiamen Transit Card, Xi'an Transit Card, Xuzhou Transit Card, Yunfu Transit Card
	All stations of Beijing Subway and Beijing Suburban Railway		Yitongxing Miaotong Card
Finland	All Föli transit operators		Payment cards
Hong Kong	All forms of transit and stores that accept Octopus		Octopus[95]
Japan	All forms of transit and stores that accept Suica		Suica
	All forms of transit and stores that accept PASMO		PASMO[96]
Sweden	All Skånetrafiken city buses		Payment cards
Serbia	Belgrade city public transport		Payment cards
United Kingdom	All Arriva UK Bus transit operators		Payment cards
	All Brighton & Hove transit operators		Payment cards
	All First Bus Group transit operators		Payment cards
	All Metrobus transit operators		Payment cards
	All Oxford Bus Company transit operators		Payment cards
	All stations of Transport for London		Payment cards
United States	All forms of transit that accept Ventra		Ventra[97]
	All forms of transit that accept TAP		TAP
	All stations of Metropolitan Transportation Authority		Payment cards
	All forms of transit that accept Hop Fastpass		Hop Fastpass, payment cards
	All forms of transit that accept Clipper		Clipper
	All forms of transit that accept SmarTrip		SmarTrip

In addition to the above scenarios, Apple Pay can still be used with other non-Express Transit/Travel readers that accept contactless open loop payment cards, but they will have to be verified beforehand.

These territories permit their residents to save their government-issued identification credentials in Apple Wallet. Unlike the equivalent physical credentials, mobile government IDs in Apple Wallet operate over NFC, so no barcode is scanned when presenting. Added credentials can also be requested by apps to present virtually.[98] Available for iPhone 8 or later, and Apple Watch Series 4 or later.[99]

These home locks & car models can be unlocked via NFC with the iPhone XR, iPhone XS or later, and Apple Watch Series 5 or later. In addition, certain car models that support operation via UWB will require an UWB compatible device, such as the iPhone 11 or later or the Apple Watch Series 6 or later.[102][103]

Journalists noted the multiple previously unsuccessful efforts of other retailers to build mobile payments services,[6][32] including those of PayPal, Walmart, Target,[6] Google Wallet, and Softcard.[32] They noted that previous efforts did not solve customer inconvenience issues, and felt that Apple Pay potentially did.[6] The Verge's Adrianne Jeffries noted that mobile payment market fragmentation was partially due to Apple's refusal to enter the market. BusinessWeek's Joshua Brustein added that Apple has a history of letting "first movers fail" with an early version of the service before releasing "a more polished version of the same idea".[6] The Verge's Dieter Bohn called Apple Pay the "week's most revolutionary product" and the announcement "a classic Apple moment of simplification and integration", and the partnership between payments services and Apple "a rare piece of collaboration and agreement". He predicted that the service's effect on the mobile payments industry would be similar to the iPhone's effect on the smartphone industry.[32] Nathaniel Popper of The New York Times referred to the banks' level of coordination with Apple as "elaborate" and indicative of mutual "preparation and investment".[12] Some analysts added that the service could reduce the standard credit card transaction fees over time since fees traditionally cover credit card fraud. The banks were willing to work with Apple in the face of efforts like Bitcoin and the Merchant Customer Exchange, which seeks to work around the card networks.[12]

Early reviews of the service regarded it as easy to use, but were not sure whether the service would become widely adopted.[104][105] The Verge's Nilay Patel wrote that the product demo was "remarkably smooth" and "a cohesive user experience".[104] Patel said the process took five to ten seconds at a retail card reader and added that it may be less smooth at stores such as Walgreens, where cashiers prompt customers for loyalty cards and charity donations.[104] The New York Times' Neil Irwin wrote that Apple exaggerated the inconvenience of credit cards. Among the plastic card's benefits, he included how others could make purchases on another's behalf and how dead cell phones could leave the owner stranded.[105]

In a 2018 publication released by Consumer Reports, Apple Pay was the leading payment service.[106]

Paying for coffee with Square's contactless + chip reader

Apple announced that more than one million credit cards had been registered on Apple Pay in the first three days of its availability,[107] making it the largest mobile payment system in the US at the time.[108] There were 220,000 participating vendors when it launched.[109][110] Outside the United States and the United Kingdom, Apple Pay can be used with American and British payment cards at compatible NFC-based payment terminals.[111][112][113]

In the United States, Apple faced opposition by the mobile payments industry, particularly the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) which was trialing a competing system known as CurrentC. Several participants of CurrentC, such as Best Buy, Walmart, and Publix had initially stated that they would not accept Apple Pay as a result of exclusivity deals. CVS Pharmacy and Rite-Aid subsequently disabled all NFC payment systems in favor of CurrentC,[12][114][115] although due to the exclusivity period ending in August 2015, Rite Aid has begun accepting it August 15, 2015.[116][117] Best Buy has begun to accept Apple Pay at all stores starting in October 2015.[118]

Target's CEO Brian Cornell said that they would be open to accepting Apple Pay eventually after the conversion to chip and PIN technology is done, but they remain involved with MCX.[119] On January 22, 2019, Target announced the roll-out of Apple Pay support to all of its US stores.[120]

Transport for London, one of Apple Pay's official UK launch partners and one of the largest contactless merchants in the world, became the UK's most used Apple Pay merchant.[121][122][123][124]

As of February 11, 2016, 20% of iPhone 6 users in the United States reported using the service at least once.[125] Apple maintains an up-to-date list of merchants who accept Apple Pay on its website.[126]

On June 2, 2016, according to Fortune, Apple said its mobile payment platform is gaining a million new users each week, yet the company did not reveal the total number of Apple Pay users. Apple also revealed that transaction volume through the service is five times what it was a year ago, and that payment volume within apps more than doubled in the second half of 2015.[127]

With the launch of Apple Pay in China, the service hit three million provisions inside its first three days, while, more generally, it is adding one million new users per week worldwide.[128]

On July 11, 2016 Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) confirmed that it accepts Apple Pay at all of its over 850 stores in Ontario, Canada. LCBO had been gradually rolling out Apple Pay support since June at its stores, which had NFC-based terminals for contactless payments.[129]

Starting on August 19, 2016, Apple Pay will be available in Chick-fil-A restaurants across the United States, allowing fast food buyers to make their purchases both in-store and at the drive-thru using Apple Pay.[130]

On September 7, 2016, Wayfair announced that they will support Apple Pay online.[131]

On May 22, 2018, TransLink announced support for Apple Pay at all fare gates and on buses.[132]

On July 31, 2018, Tim Cook announced that both CVS and 7-Eleven in the United States will support the service.[133]

On May 31, 2019 New York City Transit announced support for Apple Pay at its OMNY terminals on busses and subways.[134]

On August 21, 2019, and December 23, 2019, Miami Dade Transit announced support for Apple Pay at all fare gates and on buses.[135]

In Feb 2020, Apple Pay accounted for 5% of global card transactions.[136] On April 4, 2020, Publix CEO Todd Jones announced Publix would be supporting Apple Pay immediately to help consumers fight COVID-19.[137]