Apple Pay Launches In Canada, Amex Among Bank Partners

iPhone users in Canada can now make mobile payments via Apple Pay. MacRumors.com reports that Apple’s mobile payments system has been launched exclusively for American Express customers in Canada, allowing them to make digital payments at partner merchants like Sport Chek, Tim Hortons, McDonalds, Indigo. As long as a merchant has an NFC-equipped payment terminal that accepts Amex, users can pay via their stored credit card information on their phone’s Wallet app on iOS 9.1.

First introduced in October of last year, Apple Pay did not receive a warm reception as compared to its other product releases. TechCrunch notes that while Apple Pay continued to expand its presence internationally, it has been quite a slow adoption. The Globe and the Mail also said that major banks in Canada appeared to have no interest in supporting Apple Pay, and that popular credit cards Visa and Mastercard had second thoughts about the deal.