William Gallagher
ING bank has announced on Twitter and its official site that Apple Pay functionality will be coming to the Netherlands shortly.
Dutch bank ING has officially announced that it will be supporting Apple Pay soon. There's still no date, but this is the first time a Netherlands bank has stated its support. That's despite several years of rumors and leaked screenshots showing different banks undertaking trials.
As well as posting on Twitter, ING's Dutch-language website, though not the English version, announced the move with the words "Yes! ING introduceert Apple Pay."
"Soon you can pay with your Apple Device, such as your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch," says ">the site in translation
Sssthttps://t.co/Yrov2vq988 pic.twitter.com/kspB5braCl
— ING Nederland (@ingnl) May 1, 2019
The news comes after Tim Cook announced Apple Pay expansion in the company's latest financial earnings call. "Apple Pay is now available in 30 markets and we expect to be live in 40 markets by the end of the year," he said. "Apple Pay transaction volume more than doubled year over year and we're on track to reach 10 billion transactions this calendar year."
It's now almost five years since Apple Pay launched in the US. The Netherlands was first rumored to be getting the service late in 2017.
Alongside multiple sources claiming that ING would be launching Apple Pay in the Netherlands, AppleInsider was sent photos of an iPhone showing PKO Bank Polski testing Apple Pay in house. All indications were of a number of European countries about to support Apple Pay but while Poland ultimately launched it in June 2018, the Netherlands has been holding out for unknown reasons.
Christine McKee
Stephen Silver
Charles Martin
Amber Neely
3 Comments
Why Apple Pay in The Netherlands were delayed, is not clearly known. Rumours are the Apple asks too much commission, while the Dutch local bank fees are already quite low, and contactless pay with just a NFC debit card is so common, that the banks supposedly tried to delay the Apple Pay functionally. On the other hand, NFC payment with multiple Android phones are already more then three years around here. But happy I finally can use the NFC chip in my iPhone and Apple Watch for payments!
Finally🎉🎉
Similar story in Belgium, I am afraid. Only one bank (Fortis) is currently supporting Apple Pay, while NFC is available on nearly all payment terminals in the stores.
Will Apple miss the boat and allow other NFC apps (usually from the banks or debet card networks) to dominate for good?