Yesterday we saw an Apple Pay demo at Tim Hortons and Subway in Canada, as many Canadians with approved US bank-issued credit cards have been testing out the service.
iPhoneinCanada.ca reader Ellard has been testing Apple Pay at more places and has now hit up McDonald’s and Rexall Drug Stores.
Apple Pay does not require launching Passbook to work–just position your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus near a participating contactless NFC terminal and your credit card will appear automatically on the lock screen, as seen in the McDonald’s demo below:
Apple Pay does not require a cellular or Wi-Fi connection to work, as your financial data is siloed within the dedicated offline Secure Element chip in new iPhone 6 models.
Here’s another quick demo at a Rexall drug store:
If you have an eligible US bank-issued credit card, you can follow this guide on how to setup Apple Pay in Canada and also use this MasterCard app to find locations of contactless terminals to test Apple Pay near you.
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How can I get US-based credit card?
next time your in the states pick up a prepaid one
Do you know where is the best place to get them?
Prepaid credit cards don’t work with Apple Pay
Yes they do–if they’re from these specific banks according to Apple:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6288
But the ones you see in a grocery store, those might not work.
I am in SF and I got a Prepaid AMEX Serve but was not able to get this working. Did you guys manage it to work?
We got a Wells Fargo reloadable Prepaid VISA to work.
What is the advantage of using Apple Pay over using a regular NFC enabled Canadian credit card?
Lot safer and easier
If you normally just use a single credit card, the main advantage is security. The merchant never receives your credit card information and you never have to pull it out of your pocket to expose the card number. If a particular merchant’s system is somehow hacked, you wouldn’t have to cancel your card.
For me, one of the biggest advantages is the ability to store and use multiple cards so that means a thinner wallet. I use a different card based on my purchase dependant on which card gives me the greatest reward. For example I have a card that gives me 4% for grocery and restaurant purchases, but only 1% for general purchases, so I use a different card. With Apple pay, I could pre-load all the cards I use, and just choose which one (if it isn’t set as my default) before I pay.
I think it’s a great system on many fronts, but if you don’t have a source of USD income (which I don’t) then I think finding a way to get a US based credit card just to be able to use it is actually negating any benefit of Apple Pay and creating more hassle and expense. You’ll have to pay your bill in USD and for people like myself that would mean converting dollars, finding a way to pay etc. I’ll just wait, and hope, it comes to Canada sooner rather than later.
its badass
do you need any other advantage?
Hopefully seeing the positive response here in Canada, Apple will forge ahead and expand Apple Pay to us before too long.
I think a logical starting point would be Amex. They’re already on-board in the US, so getting them to sign on for Canada shouldn’t be a problem. Unlike Visa and MC, they don’t have the added impediment of reaching agreements with the retail banks.
I just want this to happen here, and when I get my 6 (or 6 plus when my contract expires, or watch) I will be able to leave my cards at home, and make my wallet smaller, hell since I don’t drive a picture of my id would be enough lol. Might not even need my wallet at all!!!!!! Now if they could just get the phone in my arm I could just travel with nothing but the clothes on my back. Sure Minority report had its issues, but being able to just have everything stored as a bio metric scan is so appealing.