By now you probably have seen demos of Apple Pay being used in Canada with US-bank issued and approved credit cards. We’ve shown examples of the wireless mobile payment used at major fast food chains Tim Horton’s, Subway and McDonald’s.
Do you want to try Apple Pay in Canada before it finally arrives in the year 2025 (/sarcasm)? If you do, all you need is an approved prepaid reloadable credit card from a US bank, such as Wells Fargo (which we’ve confirmed) and the Chase Liquid card.
iPhoneinCanada.ca reader Ellard was able to purchase a reloadable Wells Fargo ‘easy pay’ Visa in the United States, at the Ferndale branch in Washington State, the closest location to Vancouverites.
Here are the requirements to do so:
Once you setup your reloadable prepaid ‘easy pay’ Visa at the branch, you will be required to setup an online account at WellsFargo.com to later be used as part of the verification process with Apple Pay.
Now that you have your Wells Fargo ‘easy pay’ reloadable Visa card, here’s how to add it to Passbook and get it verified.
1. These instructions detail how to setup Apple Pay in Canada—just change your iOS region settings to the United States.
Settings > General > Language & Region > Region > United States
2. Next, launch Passbook, swipe down and tap the “+” icon in the top right.
3. The ‘Credit and Debit Cards’ screen will show up. Tap ’Set up Apple Pay’:
4. Tap ‘Add a new Credit or Debit Card’, then enter in your Wells Fargo Visa details manually or use the device’s camera (very cool).
5. Once you’ve added your card, you will be asked to verify your Wells Fargo card either by the Wells Fargo Verify iOS app or by calling in. We’ll be using the verify app in this case—download it here.
6. Once you choose the app verify option, you’ll be asked to login with your WellsFargo.com credentials. Follow the prompts to verify your card number and it will also ask you for the last four digits of the mobile number you provided as part of registration.
Now, Ellard tells us in his previous Apple Pay setups with US cards, it actually should be the ‘Device Account Number’ found within the card’s ‘Info’ in Passbook. If your mobile number doesn’t work, try the verify with device account number as well.
Once you’ve setup everything properly, you will have to wait for a verification push notification to inform you Apple Pay has been approved for your card. We had to wait just under an hour until we were notified (as you can see below while we were watching Google’s new Inbox iOS app YouTube video):
Here is the delightful sight of having a credit card within Passbook:
How to use Apple Pay?
When it comes to paying at a retail store with a supported contactless terminal, tell the cashier you’re using your Visa card. When they say ‘ready’ or ‘go’ (they always do that), just place your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to the terminal—Apple Pay will automatically populate on the lock screen and prompt you for Touch ID verification. Verify with your thumbprint and bam, you’ve just used Apple Pay in seconds.
Of course, since your card was loaded in US funds, you will be paying in Canadian dollars so the exchange rate will occur and any foreign transaction fees. But if you’re eager to get a taste of Apple Pay, it’s pretty simple and exactly as advertised.
Apple Pay worked fine at a McD’s drive thru, life is complete #coffee #canada pic.twitter.com/rir2p4V8it
— iPhone in Canada (@iPhoneinCanada) October 24, 2014
The above guide should also work for the Chase Liquid reloadable credit card. Let us know if you’re able to setup a Wells Fargo Visa or a credit card from Chase. Apple has a support document which lists compatible bank-approved cards here.
