It is quite common that new online services and offers from US companies will only be introduced in Germany with a few months delay. At Apple Pay, however, the wait was considerably longer than usual. The iPhone payment system was launched in the US in October 2014, launched in the UK in the summer of 2015 and is now widely used in France and Spain, but not in Germany.

That should change now. On press release Apple announced on December 11, the launch of Apple Pay in Germany. For introduction 15 financial institutions will support the new service. These include Deutsche Bank, HypoVereinsbank, Fidor and Hanseatic Bank and Comdirect, as well as fintechs such as N26 and boon, bunq, Vimpay and Edenred. In addition, the three major credit card companies American Express, Visa and Mastercard (including Maestro) are included.

The fact that Apple introduces its payment service only now a Germany, is mainly attributed to the resistance of banks and savings banks, who prefer to introduce their own systems for cashless payments. For example, at the end of July the German Savings Banks and Giro Association published the "Mobile Payments" app, which enables savings bank customers to pay with their smartphones.

The offer applies only to Android users, since Apple has made the necessary for mobile payment NFC chip in his iPhones not yet available for third-party. In addition, not all of the 390 savings banks in Germany offer payment by smartphone.

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Sparkassen app "Mobile payment"

How does that work in practice?

In everyday life, it should be quite easy to pay with iPhone or Apple Watch at a checkout: Press twice on the side button of mobile phone or smartwatch to initiate the payment process. Depending on the device, you then either have to look into the camera for a moment, place your finger on the fingerprint sensor or enter a pin to identify yourself. If you keep your cell phone or watch on a terminal afterwards, the payment will be made. A green check mark on the screen signals the completion of the process.

On Apple's webpage on the theme, 41 partners are listed to start with, accepting Apple Pay as a payment method. These include supermarket chains like Aldi, Netto and real as well as Burger King, McDonalds, Starbucks and Tchibo. The toilets at Sanifair will also be able to pay by mobile phone in the future, and Aral and Shell gas stations will also use the system. In addition, Apple Pay can also be used in various apps and in web shops, such as the airline Emirates or mytaxi.

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Pay at the checkout with your mobile: How to set up Apple Pay

What do you need for that?

  • The most important requirement is a card from a bank that supports Apple Pay. A list that is constantly being supplemented by new partner banks can be found here.
  • In addition, you must have an Apple account, with which one logs on to Apple's iCloud.
  • As hardware you need: an iPhone SE or an iPhone 6 or newer
  • or an iPad mini 3 or 4, an iPad Air 2, a 5th or 6th generation iPad, or an iPad Pro.
  • or an Apple Watch
  • or a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with TouchID
  • or a Mac introduced in 2012 or later (in this case, a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch is also required).
  • For all devices, they should be equipped with the latest version of the respective operating system.

Is cashless payment going on now?

Germany is a special market. For a long time, the motto was "Only cash is true". Still 47.6 per cent of the payments are settled here in cash. In the meantime however the conversion to terminals, which support contactless payment by NFC radio, is also far advanced in this country.

Industry experts expect that paying with the smartphone will gradually prevail. Before Apple had Google introduced in June its payment system Google Pay. The electronics market Saturn is also experimenting with a corresponding system.