Scotiabank Stays Silent When Asked About Apple Pay Plans in Canada

With rumours of Apple Pay set to possibly launch in Canada this November, ongoing chatter in the media involving our big banks continues to persist. Last week, TD Bank’s CFO was asked if they were working with Apple, only to reply “we are working with a broad set of parties out there, let’s put it that way.”

Now, it’s Scotiabank’s turn to dodge questions about Apple and a potential Apple Pay partnership. The Globe and Mail’s article titled Banks racing to ward off mobile competition from Apple and Google asks Scotiabank’s vice president of self service customer experience, Jeff Marshall, about the financial institution’s mobile strategy, and whether or not Apple may be involved.

In regards to Apple Pay in the U.S., Marshall responded with “We are watching that [U.S. foray] with interest, but that’s about as far as it has gone so far.”

When asked if Apple had approached the Bank of Nova Scotia with plans to implement Apple Pay in Canada, Marshall replied “We have relationships with all the technology partners around the world, and there are always discussions around what is next.”

Scotiabank has their own mobile payment solution called Mobile Wallet; TD Bank has UGO; Royal Bank has RBC Wallet. All of these solutions primarily work on Android and BlackBerry smartphones, but no access is available to iPhones for these NFC wallets, leaving out a huge share of the smartphone market.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Canada’s big banks have formed a consortium to negotiate terms with Apple to launch the mobile payment here, including how to deal with security issues. Delays in the talks are reportedly over Apple Pay’s fee proposals, as sources say they would be higher here versus the U.S., surely an issue the banks can’t be happy about.

With Google recently announcing Android Pay and also Samsung Pay on its way to the U.S., expect these launches to help fast track mobile wallet adoption, which is going to be good for consumers.