Apple Pay as of now is available only in six countries, but the tech giant is keen on extending the imprint of the automated payment service universally.
Apple Pay was initially launched in April this year and was introduced in Singapore last week. According to Apple’s officials, the ultimate goal of the company is to have Apple Pay in every important market where Apple’s products are a hit. They seem to be working rapidly to extend their empire in more Asian and European countries.
Recently Apple had announced that it plans to extend its payment service to Asian countries, especially in Hong Kong. However, it seems unclear in which markets it will hit the shelves first. There were rumors in February that Apple might extend its reign to Brazil, Spain, France and Hong Kong by this year while the company’s CEO hinted that India also might be included in its expansion plans. But the company does not seem to be spilling any beans about its plans.
The executives have announced that Apple is communicating with many banks and finance partners across Hong Kong and other Asia Pacific regions to evaluate the quick possibility of bringing Apple Pay to the new market base.
Apple has been concentrating on spreading its realms in the most sensible market places in Asia. For example, China is a big country which is thronging with people and it has one of the biggest market bases for Apple. However, Hong Kong and Singapore are comparatively smaller markets with a lot of westernized attributes to the consumers.
Apple’s Market assessments
Though the name of the country for the next launch of the Apple Pay service has not been revealed, a few nibbles of the company’s investigation factors were shared. The top officials from Apple have shared a few observations and visions of how they expect the market to be when they plan to expand their territory. They look into the market size of the Apple products, debit and credit card analysis, and contactless payment coverage. They claim that Apple Pay will improve the contactless payment method in the market. Even if it is low, it will grow. Reports say that the contactless payments in the U.S. were just 4 percent earlier, but now it has shot up to 20 percent. Apple also works with its network allies, where its integration with Visa and Amex can be utilized to quickly get into the market business.
This focus makes sense when it is applicable to the already existing Apple customers since they are the ones who use such technology. But it is not the same when it comes to users in other countries like the Southeast Asia regions, wherein the Android devices are dominant when compared to the Apple products in the market share. Anyway, the company is really excited to see the drive and motivation that Apple Pay has gained in the markets where it is live.
Chinese Market reports
It has been reported that the Chinese market for Apple Pay service had hit the 3 million mark within the first three days of launch. In the worldwide scenario, almost one million new users are being added per week. Though there was no new data offered along with the Apple Pay service in China, still there is a remarkable user and developer interaction with many popular consumer-based tech companies incorporating the service into their apps so that the digital payments can be enabled. So, all the indicators predict that the launch in China has been successful.
Up to 2,500 bank locations have been covered in the U.S. alone although it started with just six locations initially. Similarly, in China, it was 12 locations when it was launched in February and now it is 19. More updates have been planned even for the existing markets where Apple Pay is live.
Apple is focused not only on adding support to more number of banks and cards, but also towards introducing loyalty programs for Apple Pay upon completion of its initial roll-outs in the U.S. Besides, Apple Pay’s seems to follow an agenda where it does not support any online or in-app payments in all the markets. Now that’s exactly the tip of the iceberg!
Apple Pay had reported earlier this year that its services might be coming down to the ATMs in the U.S. as it eventually aims at grabbing a huge slice of the payment pie. Apple Pay is currently supported by five major international banks and has coverage of over 80 percent of the cards. It is currently available in the USA, the UK, Canada, China, and Australia. It was recently launched in Singapore also. Though it seems meager now, Apple plans to do a lot more.