Apple Pay is finally here in Canada. It’s available to Canadian American Express cardholders. In order to use Apple Pay along with being American Express cardholders they need to own an iPhone 6/iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s/iPhone 6s Plus running iOS 9 or an Apple Watch paired with an iPhone 5 or newer iPhone. AMEX has already said on Twitter that
Cardmembers can earn the same rewards they already enjoy using AMEX with Apple Pay.
It’s good to see Apple Pay finally reaching our shores and I’m looking forward to its usage increasing.
In order to use it we need to know where is accepting it. One of my usual online spots has given just that, iphoneincanada.ca. A partial list but a long list nonetheless and a great starting point. In order for a store to support Apple Pay they must have an NFC terminal along with accepting AMEX. At launch the AMEX cards supported by this are AMEX Consumer, Small Business or Corporate. If you’ve got one of those cards here’s how you setup Apple Pay on your iPhone.
- Open the Wallet app
- Tap “Add Credit or Debit Card”
- If you have a supported credit or debit card in iTunes enter the card’s security code. If you don’t use the camera on your iPhone to capture the information on your card. Fill in additonal information.
- Tap Next, your bank/credit card company will verify your information and decide if it can be added to Apple Pay. You may be asked for additional verification.
- After verification tap Next and you can start using Apple Pay
I think American Express was smartest to join Apple with Apple Pay. They are the only credit card company as far as I know in Canada that can be used with Apple Pay. The service has now launched in Australia with AMEX and I’m guessing that is the same deal. I think the other credit card companies better get it in gear and start supporting it as well. If AMEX is able to take a foothold before the other companies figure it out. This could be a huge move to get AMEX popularity in the CC space. I have way more Mastercards but I do have an AMEX card. If I can only use AMEX with Apple Pay and it offers me the convenience along with enhanced security that is enough for me to change which card I use regularly. I’m willing to bet the same goes for a lot of other card carrying customers. Anyway now that you know how to setup Apple Pay on your iPhone here are a few of my favorite places that now accept it. Defiinitely check out the link above for a longer list and to maybe find some of your own favorites.
Alice Fazooli’s
Jack Astor’s
Canyon Creek Chophouse
Kelseys
Milestones
Pickle Barrel
7-Eleven
The Source
Longos
Petro-Canada/Pioneer
Rogers/Fido
Sobeys
Wholefoods
Apple
Cineplex
HomeDepot
Homesense
Indigo
Marshalls
Wal-mart
Mad about Innovation 