In January, MacRumors reported that Apple Pay could launch in South Africa sometime this year. Sure enough, Apple’s payment service is now available in the region for customers at selected banks.
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Apple has launched its Apple Pay payment service in South Africa, following Samsung’s launch of its payment service in 2018, according to media reports. Apple has yet to provide further details, but only customers of three South African banks — Absa Group, Nedbank Group and Discovery Bank — will be able to use Apple Pay.
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According to foreign netizens, they saw a request to add their bank card to Apple Pay. So far, only Discovery, Nedbank, and Absa customers seem to be able to add their cards to the Apple Wallet app.
Apple’s South African website has not yet been updated to reflect the launch of Apple Pay in the country, which is not unusual as support for the service has only just begun.
Digital payments transactions in South Africa are expected to reach $13 billion this year, according to Statista. Payment methods include consumers making purchases online and paying offline via apps or digital wallets.
Apple Pay was first launched in the US in 2014. In subsequent years, the payment service was launched in the UK, Australia and Canada, among other countries. Apple officially launched Apple Pay in Mexico in February.
Apple recently announced that more than 90 percent of its U.S. stores, 85 percent of its U.K. stores and 99 percent of its Australian stores will accept Apple Pay by 2020. Apple also introduced multiple transportation cards for Apple Pay users on the Chinese mainland last year, and there are now more than a dozen urban transportation cards available.