By anyone’s estimate, Apple Pay has been a huge success in the U.S.A. Apple’s timing in launching the service was exceptionally fortuitous … while the company touted “ease of use” as the prime selling point, the fact that numerous retailers recently proved that they can’t be trusted with your credit card data is really what put the service on the map in a hurry. Apple still downplays the value of keeping both your personal information and your card number secret from retailers – they do need to keep on good terms with said retailers to roll out the service – but it is undeniable that this is the main reason for the service becoming the single largest electronic payment method in less than a year.
Until now, however, Canada has been left out. The main sticking point was the fact that Canadians love to use debit, not credit, as their point of sale payment option. Down below the 49th, people whip out the Visa or Mastercard to pay for small day-to-day purchases. Canadians? We go for the debit card. Using a secure token for debit purchases hasn’t been as easy to integrate as with credit card accounts, and Apple had no appetite to launch the service here without including the most popular form of payment.
Time to catch up. Apple is now planning to roll out the service across Canada in November, with complete debit card integration. They are working with all six of the largest banks and it will be interesting to see if they manage to launch with all six at one time. It will also be interesting to see how hard they push the “keep your information safe from retailers” angle to security-minded Canadian consumers at the expense of possible retailer relationships. Stay tuned.