Apple in Talks With Visa in Europe For Apple Pay Launch

In just eight days, the freshly unveiled iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in stores in North America, Europe, and Australia. Still, only one of the ten countries included in the initial rollout can fully take advantage of all the features packed into the device: the US. Just to name one single reason: Apple Pay, the company’s mobile payment solution, is currently limited to the US. However, as Visa Europe emphasized, the good ol’ continent is getting ready to deploy the new mobile payment solution (via MacPlus).

Apple will kick off Apple Pay with major card issuers like MasterCard, Visa, and American Express already on board, and it has already inked a deal with a handful of banks. However, they are only rolling out Apple Pay in the US. Canada has to wait in line just like Europe.

Steve Perry, Chief Digital Officer at Visa Europe, welcomed Apple’s mobile payment solution and quickly highlighted that Europe is ready to deploy Apple’s solution. Technically. The details, however, need to be discussed, and the negotiations are ongoing, he says.

“Visa Europe has led the rollout of NFC payments ever since we launched the first contactless cards and terminals in 2007. Today there are more than 1.5 million Visa contactless terminals in stores across Europe – all ready to take mobile payments. Apple’s decision to enter the market reflects the scale of opportunity that exists in digital payments today. Its support will drive awareness and usage of contactless services around the world – we anticipate a “halo effect” that will benefit all players in the mobile payments ecosystem.”

“We are working closely with Apple and with our member banks to bring this new service to market in Europe.”

Maybe we will see an Apple Pay launch in Canada and Europe soon?