Visa Europe has announced that its contactless payment terminals in Europe will be Apple Pay-ready by mid-April.
Visa, via 9to5Mac:
Tokenization technology will be at the heart of new mobile payment solutions and has been hailed as one of the best data protection and fraud prevention methods available. The new service will be available for financial institutions [in Europe] from mid-April 2015.
While Europe has had contactless payment terminals in place for many years, the technology currently transmits card details to the terminal. Apple Pay uses a one-time tokenized code, which card companies then use to charge the customer’s credit or debit account.
While Apple hasn’t announced a specific date for Apple Pay’s introduction in Europe, bank sources and an Apple job listing have indicated a UK launch will take place sometime in the first half of 2015.
Visa Europe hasn’t officially confirmed any agreement with Apple, however a VISA spokesman indicated that this is the case in a statement to Reuters:
“Apple and Visa (Inc) have an agreement around what has happened,” spokesman Steve Perry said. “I am as excited as anyone, but we have to wait,” he said.
Apple Pay, introduced in the United States last October, is now supported by over 100 financial institutions, recently adding 20 new banks to the list.
Apple Pay has proven popular in the U.S. following its October 2014 debut, quickly grabbing 1% of all digital payment dollars in the month of November.
