Apple Pay set for Japan, New Zealand and Russia

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Sep 9, 2016

Apple's new payment system, Apple Pay, is set to enter three new geographic markets this year: Japan, New Zealand and Russia.

With the announcement of the new iPhone 7, 7 Plus and Apple Watch Series 2 taking centre stage this week, Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, went on to detail Apple Pay's Japanese launch, noting the e-payment system will be up and running in the archipelago nation this October.

Apple said in a press release its payment technology will support most Japanese credit and prepaid card brands, including those offered by AEON, Credit Saison, JCB, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos, Orient Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Card, Toyota Finance, UC Cards and View Card.

Cellular carriers KDDI, NTT Docomo and Softbank are also included in the list of supported issuers. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand is reportedly receiving Apple Pay during the southern hemisphere spring.  A report from Stuff mentioned a start date of October, through a partnership with ANZ. The bank, in April, became the first of Australia's major banks to adopt Apple Pay. 

"Our customers in the nine markets around the world where Apple Pay is live today love how convenient it makes their day-to-day shopping, and we can't wait to bring Apple Pay to New Zealand so customers there can start making easy, secure and private payments in their favorite stores, apps and on the web," said Apple Pay chief Jennifer Bailey.

Finally, Apple Pay is scheduled for set up in Russia. A launch date has not been disclosed. After a U.S. launch in 2014, Apple Pay has entered nine markets including Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland and the U.K.