DUBLIN: The big question about Apple Pay is not if, but when, the larger Irish banks will get on board. Apple Pay launched in Ireland this week but the biggest banks – AIB and Bank of Ireland – were conspicuous in their absence. If there was one tech launch this year that this writer had been eagerly anticipating, it was that of Apple Pay. Yes, as a self-confessed Apple fanboy, I was looking forward to the day where I could pay for goods at the counter with an iPhone or an Apple Watch. I was particularly looking forward to the perplexed expressions on the faces of counter staff at this new-fangled innovation.
Apple Pay can be used anywhere that contactless payments are accepted, including retailers such as Lidl, Aldi, Boots, SuperValu, Centra, An Post, Burger King, Compu b, Dunnes Stores, Harvey Norman, Elverys, Applegreen and Marks and Spencer, to name a few. Each transaction is validated either through Touch ID or a passcode at the terminal. Online shopping in apps and on websites accepting Apple Pay is as simple as the touch of a finger. In particular, I was looking forward to the ease with which I could sync my debit card with my phone. In fairness, Android Pay was first out of the blocks in December with AIB and KBC Bank, and it is a very similar model – but my heart was set on Apple Pay. Already a big fan of Wallet on the iPhone for things such as airline tickets, I knew in my heart of hearts that my banking cards belonged in the deck, too.
But when Apple Pay finally launched in Ireland this week, only three years after it was first unveiled at the iPhone 6 launch in September 2014, it was with just two banks: KBC Bank and Ulster Bank. It also incorporated a fintech app called Boon that lets you move cash from your cards into a virtual container. This means that broad swathes of the iPhone-toting population of Ireland are still without access to Apple Pay; unless, of course, they wish to use Boon, which looks like a pretty handy tool. Kudos, in particular, to KBC Bank, which managed to launch both Android Pay and Apple Pay compatibility with apparent aplomb. So what do the main banks have to say? Not a lot, but the fact is that it is only a matter of time before they launch Apple Pay.
Bank of Ireland had this to say: “With 8m customer interactions every month on our mobile app – and 14m monthly interactions across mobile and tablet apps, online and our contact centres – the way in which our customers bank is diverse. With that in mind, we keep all new technology platforms under active review, including Android and Apple Pay technology.” AIB was equally circumspect in its reply to my question: “We are in discussion with a number of payment service providers, including Apple, on bringing innovation in payments into Ireland following our recent deployment of Android Pay. We are not in a position to confirm timing of such payment development at this time.” Fair enough, but do please hurry up.
