ANZ becomes Apple Pay’s first Australian bank partner

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news ANZ Bank has announced that it now offers Apple Pay to its five million Australian customers, becoming the first bank in the country to do so.

From 28 April, ANZ customers in the country are able to use Apple Pay to make purchases using the mobile app wherever contactless payments are accepted with either an ANZ Visa debit or credit card, or an ANZ American Express credit card.

“The introduction of Apple Pay is a significant milestone in our strategy to use digital technology to provide our customers with a superior experience and will be a watershed moment in the adoption of mobile payments in Australia,” said ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott.

“I’m proud we’re the first major Australian bank to offer Apple Pay and we are confident the convenience, security and privacy will be well received by our customers,” he added.

Elliott suggested that, with the high adoption rates of contactless payments in Australia, the bank’s customers will be able to make “the vast bulk of essential payments” on their mobile devices.

According to a bank statement, over 60% of all card transactions in Australia are now contactless.

The bank sought to allay any fears over security and privacy, saying these features are “at the core of Apple Pay”, and explained that credit or debit card numbers are neither stored on the device, nor on Apple’s servers.

Instead, a unique ‘device account number’ is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the secure element of the device. Each transaction is authorised with a one-time unique dynamic security code, the bank said.

For store shoppers, Apple Pay works with iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch.

When paying for goods and services within apps, Apple Pay is compatible with iPhone 6 and later, as well as iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3 and iPad Pro.

Apple Pay was first introduced to the Australian market in late November 2015, following a partnership with American Express for the launch.

Some controversy was to soon follow, as the notable lack of bank partners led to accusations from commentators including Ed Husic MP that the banks were “boycotting” the service.

Soon after, however, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens claimed in a letter to a Labor MP that he hadn’t seen “any evidence” that Australia’s banks were actively boycotting the Apple Pay service, despite the American Express being the only partner at that time.

A glance at the Apple website shows that ANZ is currently the only bank partner for the mobile payments service.

Image credit: Apple

3 COMMENTS

  1. It’s become irrelevant now that innovative banks like ING, Me Bank and Citibank offer products with 2%-5% cashback offers. Why would I use Apple Pay when I can use those and get free money?

  2. Now the question is just how much Apple/ANZ end up tacking on in service charges, and when…

  3. Arrgh, only works with my Visa Debit card and not my ANZ MasterCard. :-(

    Still it’s a good start I suppose.

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