What is Apple Pay? - Explained

Apple Pay Logo

1. What is Apple Pay?

Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital card wallet developed and designed by Apple Inc. By using Apple Pay users can make payments in person, can make payments for iOS apps and websites and etc... Apple Pay has digitized the authenticating features in chip and PIN transaction authentication by contactless communication features like NFC, Touch ID, Face ID, PIN or Passcode and etc...

Users can use Apple Pay in iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac to make seamless transactions without worrying about the data privacy and security because Apple Pay handles all that for the user.

2. History

Apple initially released the Apple Pay on 20th October 2014. Before the initial launch of Apple Pay, Apple has done homework by acquiring startups, filing patents for payments, and hiring executives who do have experience in the payment industry.

Apple partnered with the American Express, MasterCard, and VISA to build a seamless project and easy to use with minimal charges for the user. Apple announced the Apple Pay on 9th September 2014 in the iPhone 6 release event.

3. Supported Countries

Apple Pay supports 32 countries currently and there are multiple other countries that Apple is working on to allow Apple Pay for its users.

Supported Country	Date
United States of America	20th October 2014
United Kingdom	14th July 2015
Canada	17th November 2015
Australia	19th November 2015
China	18th February 2016
Singapore	19th April 2016
Switzerland	7th July 2016
France	19th July 2016
Hong Kong	20th July 2016
Russia	4th October 2016
New Zealand	13th October 2016
Japan	25th October 2016
Spain	1st December 2016
Ireland	7th March 2017
Guemsey	7th March 2017
Isle of Man	7th March 2017
Jersey	7th March 2017
Taiwan	29th March 2017
Italy	17th May 2017
San Marino	17th May 2017
Vatican City	17th May 2017
Sweden	24th October 2017
Denmark	24th October 2017
Finland	24th October 2017
United Arab Emirates	24th October 2017
Brazil	4th April 2018
Ukraine	17th May 2018
Poland	19th June 2018
Norway	20th June 2018
Kazakhstan	28th November 2018
Belgium	28th November 2018
Germany	11th December 2018