National Australia Bank Announces Support for Apple Pay

Former Apple Pay holdout National Australia Bank (NAB) today announced support for Apple’s contactless payments system, allowing bank customers with a Visa card to make purchases using the payments system.

NAB is the third of the “big four” Australian banks to begin accepting Apple Pay. The bank announced the move on Twitter. NAB isn’t as yet listed as a partner on the Australian Apple Pay website, but should be added shortly.

NAB had been part of a group, along with Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, that had attempted to force Apple to open up the iPhone’s NFC capabilities to support other digital wallet systems, including those offered by the banks.

Apple pushed back, saying the move would be harmful to customers and stifle innovation. Australian regulators sided with Apple, and turned down the banks’ request to bargain collectively with Apple.

Westpac is now the lone “big four” bank Apple Pay holdout, as Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, and NAB all now supporting Apple’s payments solution.

Adding Your Credit or Debit Card to Apple Pay

If your bank is on one of the above lists, you can now add your credit or debit card to the service by doing the following:

• iPhone users running iOS 12 can go to the Wallet app and tap the “+” icon in the upper right-hand corner to begin, and then just follow the prompts. Users of iPads with Touch ID can add a card to the service to use in apps by going into “Settings” -> “Wallet & Apple Pay” to add a card there.
• Apple Watch users will need to enter the Watch app on their iPhone, Tap on the “Wallet & Apple Pay” option, and then tap the “Add Credit or Debit Card” option.

For more information about the service, visit the Apple website.