What you need to know
- Two new German banks now support Apple Pay.
- Sparkasse and Commerzbank customers can now use Visa and Mastercard credit cards in Apple Wallet.
- Sparkassen-Karte Basis debit card is also supported.
Two new German banks have joined Apple Pay, finally rectifying their notable absence at the launch of Apple Pay in the country.
Customers of Sparkasse and Commerzbank can now use Apple Pay and add their Visa and Mastercard credit cards to Apple's Wallet app. As reported by MacRumors, Sparkasse customers will also be able to use the Sparkassen-Karte Basis debit card with Apple Pay. At this point however the giro card is not supported but will arrive on the service sometime in 2020.
This means that millions of customers between the two banks will now be able to take advantage of contactless payment on iPhone and Apple Watch. Sparkasse and Commerzbank join 24 other German Banks and cards that now support the service, including Deutsche Bank and Allianz. Apple Pay was launched in Germany in December 2018, however, both Sparkasse and Commerzbank were notably absent at launch.
Two further German Banks, Norisbank and BW Bank also added support for Apple Pay today. Any Norisbank customers who activate Apple Pay before January 31, 2020, will receive a 10 Euro App Store and Advertising voucher!
Apple Pay is available in 58 countries. Recently in Germany, a law passed by parliament could force Apple to open up its NFC chip in the iPhone to rival payment services. An amendment to a German money laundering bill did not name Apple specifically, however, its provision states that operators of electronic money infrastructure will be required to offer access to rivals for a reasonable fee. Apple reacted with surprise to the legislation, and in response said it could be harmful to user-friendliness, data protection, and security. Apple is under scrutiny in Europe over alleged anti-competitive practices relating to Apple Pay.
