Only recently, the Sparkasse announced the launch of Apple Pay this year – now the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken are following suit.
A board member of the Federal Association of German Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks (BVR) confirmed to Handelsblatt that Apple Pay will be introduced this year. Initially, the Sparkasse and the BVR tried to push through their own solution on Apple devices. Both demanded that Apple open up the NFC chip. It was of course out of the question that Cupertino would comply. Apple has only set up a read mode, which allows RFID labels to be scanned, but data cannot be sent. Now the Federal Association of German Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks also seems to have come to its senses. A specific launch date has not been communicated.
Apple's payment service was introduced in the USA in October 2014. With Apple Pay, iPhones and Apple Watches can replace debit or credit cards. Simply holding the device up to the terminal initiates the payment process. You can find out everything you need to know about Apple's payment service here.
