Just a month ago, Apple announced the availability of Apple Pay in Singapore, but only for people who have American Express (Amex) cards. It was said that support for credit and debit cards from other banks were only rolling out in the coming months. And now it’s here.
Five more banks – DBS, OCBC Bank, POSB, Standard Chartered and UOB – have joined in the Apple Pay party today; and together with American Express, they make up a huge majority of card users here in Singapore. Apple chose Singapore as the first market in Asia to get the service, as opposed to China, because of the high credit and debit card usage over cash here (according to Apple, about 78% of consumers). At the moment, there are about 30,000 contactless retail points in Singapore, including NTUC FairPrice, Starbucks, UNIQLO, Topshop, Topman, G2000, Shaw Theatres and more.
It’s really easy to use too; just open up the Wallet app on your iPhone, and key in the details of your card. Once you’ve gone through all the verification process, you’re ready to go. To use Apple Pay, select the card you’d like to use, place your thumb on the Touch ID to verify, and then hold your iPhone near the reader. It’s that simple. There is a small downside, though. Contactless payments are currently restricted at $100 per transaction; unless you’re with UOB. They’ve lifted the $100 cap for some of its merchants, which includes Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), Caltex, Metro and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
Apple Pay is compatible with devices that have the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, such as the iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro. You can also choose to use your Apple Watch; just make sure it’s running on watch OS 2.1 or later.
