Right after launching in France, Apple Pay is now available in Hong Kong as well. As usual, only a few partnering banks are part of the launch, but the company expects to roll out support for more cards and stores over the coming months.
If you have a Visa or MasterCard from HSBC, BOCHK, Hang Seng, DBS or Standard Chartered, you’re covered. Just head over to the Wallet app on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and soon Mac. BEA and HKT are next. American Express cards are also supported.
Dozens of stores already support Apple Pay, including all sorts of convenience stores. Apps that rely on Stripe or Braintree to process payments can now start accepting Apple Pay. Deliveroo, Foodpanda, Homeaway and others already flipped the switch.
Now, the only question is whether that will be enough in the land of the Octopus card. Everybody has a contactless Octopus card in Hong Kong already as you need it to use public transportation. This card also lets you pay for stuff in stores if they have an Octopus reader. It’s become a ubiquitous payment method.
Apple Pay is now available in 9 countries: the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, China, Singapore, Switzerland, France and Hong Kong. Apple Pay is now processing five times the transaction volume of a year ago. Ten million locations now support Apple Pay around the world. And of course, these numbers will only grow as Apple expands its payment service to new countries.