Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payment service, is expanding to Israel and South Africa soon, after launching in Mexico in February. First introduced in 2014, Apple Pay is now available in over 50 countries and regions helping Apple users with transactions through NFC chips built into their mobile phones around the world. At that time, it seemed like a revolutionary idea that would take a while to catch on. Six years later, more than half the iPhone users out there are paying with their mobile phones. Apple Pay currently accounts for 10 percent of all global card transactions. And the Czechs have already spent billions of euros since the Apple Pay and Google Pay service was launched two years ago.
Mobile payments are on the sharp rise being popular with people as an easy, convenient, and secure payment option. Even in Western Europe that has always had a strong cash culture and concerns over security. That is gradually changing as more people are using mobile payments. Why? It is much faster than plastic payment cards. You just pull out your mobile phone, unlock the home screen, and hover it over the reader. And if you have an Apple Watch, you might be able to tap it into the reader without even touching your mobile phone. Pulling out your card just feels archaic once you have tried Apple Pay. Or Google Pay. To keep transactions secure, Apple and Google use a method known as tokenization, preventing actual payment card numbers from being sent over the air. Apple also secures payments using Touch ID or Face ID on compatible iPhones and continual skin contact on the Apple Watch. That’s why we can see an upward trajectory in mobile payments across Europe.
The Nordics Are Leading
Mobile payments are highest in the Nordics, with four out of ten mobile phone owners using them. Switzerland and Eastern Europe are other examples within Europe with relatively high adoption of mobile payments. Germany is known for its proud culture of technological innovation. But I am for sure not alone who has been caught out at German cafes and shops that only take cash. However, things are changing and young Germans, in particular, are looking for new payment alternatives. Coronavirus is even accelerating a cultural shift to cashless payments. For the first time, German businesses are actively encouraging contactless cards and mobile payments. So mobile payment adoption in Europe varies by country but it is taking off in general. Mobile payment usage is growing steadily across Europe. Apple Pay now works for the Paris metro, too. Parisians can pay for their passes through the metro app. And in the near future, they will be let to add their passes to the Wallet app.
Apple Pay Is The Most Popular Payment Method In Czechia
Clients of Air Bank have already made over 47 million mobile payments of a little less than one billion euros in total. Apple Pay is currently used by approximately 143 thousand, and Google Pay by 110 thousand Air Bank clients. Also at Fio, another Czech retail bank, most clients use Apple Pay. Namely 49 thousand. Google Pay is then used by 36 thousand Fio’s clients. And in Česká spořitelna, the largest retail bank in Czechia with more than 4.7 million clients, over 200 thousand clients pay with Apple Pay. With Google Pay, there are then more than 178 thousand clients.
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