Previously iPhone payment app rejected
After the savings banks had previously rejected the use of Apple Pay, the introduction of the mobile payment service now seems probably to be considered. “The savings banks and Landesbanken in Germany are continuously working on improving their payment solutions for their customers. In this context, we are having very positive discussions with Apple to find out how we can introduce Apple Pay for all our customers,” said a spokesperson for the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (German shortcut DSGV).
Apple Pay was launched last December after a long delay. With the app, users can pay in retail shops via iPhone or Apple Watch. All they need is a credit card from a participating bank and a contactless POS system.
The participating banks reported that the iPhone payment system was in great demand. For example, the number of registrations at Comdirect Bank on the first filing day was in the five-digit range. The Berlin smartphone bank N26 and the Wirecard subsidiary Boon also reported a high number of new registrations. Apple Pay has also merged with Deutsche Bank, Hypovereinsbank, Santander and American Express in Germany.
Unexpected turnaround
It is possible that the savings bank will soon be one of the cooperating banks. “The technical architecture behind Apple Pay offers consumers a highly secure and private solution that is of interest to our customers,” said the DSGV spokesman.
This is surprising because the savings banks and cooperative banks had previously rejected the introduction of the iPhone payment system and instead introduced their own payment apps. However, these can only be used on smartphones with Google’s Android operating system, as they cannot access the NFC radio chip on the iPhone.