Dive Brief:
- Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in Canada this November, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- This will be the first international expansion of the mobile payments service, which was introduced to the U.S. market in October.
- The Journal says that Apple is working with six of Canada's biggest banks for the launch, although it is uncertain that all six of the banks will launch the service at the same time. Some banks have expressed concern with some of Apple's terms for Apple Pay and security around the system.
Dive Insight:
As the Journal points out, this expansion into Canada makes sense for Apple, given the high concentration of iPhones in the country — Apple phones make up around one-third of the Canadian smartphone market, according to research cited from Catalyst. Many of Canada's merchants are also already equipped with the NFC technology needed to support Apple Pay, helping retailers avoid any costs or headaches associated with adapting their POS systems to accommodate wireless transactions.
If this expansion does indeed launch smoothly, it will be a big boost to help Apple Pay become the prominent mobile payment system in the world.