ANZ Bank is the first of Australia’s ‘Big 4’ banks to allow its customers to use the Apple Pay service after brokering a deal with Apple.
The bank said that its “five million customers in Australia” could now take advantage of the service “wherever contactless payments are accepted with either an ANZ Visa debit or credit card or an ANZ American Express credit card.”
“The introduction of Apple Pay is a significant milestone in our strategy to use digital technology to provide our customers with a superior experience and will be a watershed moment in the adoption of mobile payments in Australia,” ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott said
“I’m proud we’re the first major Australian bank to offer Apple Pay and we are confident the convenience, security and privacy will be well received by our customers.
“Our customers will be world leaders in their ability to use their mobiles to make the vast bulk of essential payments.”
Until today, Apple Pay had been available only to American Express cardholders.
At the time American Express came on-board late last year, ANZ indicated it would “continue to watch emerging third party wallets” but said it remained focused on getting traction for its own digital wallet service, which is called GoMoney.
While security concerns have been raised about digital wallet services in the past, ANZ moved to reassure customers that the Apple Pay service is safe to use.
“Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay, so when used with a credit or debit card, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers,” the bank said.
“Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element of the device.
“Each transaction is authorised with a one-time unique dynamic security code.”
Apple Pay for in-store purchases works with devices including the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch.
“Online shopping in apps accepting Apple Pay is as simple as the touch of a finger with Touch ID, so there’s no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information,” ANZ said.
“When paying for goods and services within apps, Apple Pay is compatible with iPhone 6 and later, as well as iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3 and iPad Pro.”
