M1 will launch Apple Pay in Singapore

The operator will allow its customers to use the mobile payment service to make purchases at M1 Shop outlets and branches.

Apple has meanwhile revealed it has extended the reach of Apple Pay to include holders of credit and debit cards issued by five banks in the country – DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, POSB Bank, United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Standard Chartered Bank.

The five banks combined account for more than 80% of credit and debit cards issued in the country.

Apple Pay, which launched last month in Singapore, was previously only available to holders of credit cards issued by American Express in the nation.

The service is currently available in six markets – Australia, Canada, China, United States, United Kingdom and Singapore, with planned launches for Hong Kong and Spain this year.

The service can be used on Apple’s iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch devices for payments at physical retail outlets.

Banks are likely hoping Apple Pay transactions will increase adoption of contactless payments and eat into a chunk of the small payments pie currently dominated by cash transactions.

OCBC Bank Singapore is offering its credit and debit card customers a 3% rebate for Apple Pay transactions island-wide in the first month of activation, with a cap of up to S$15 ($11).

UOB is meanwhile aiming to lift the S$100 transaction limit for contactless payments at all its POS terminals island by the end of next year. The limit has been removed from 2,000 of the bank’s 10,000 terminals so far.

Figures from a recent MasterCard study have revealed an appetite for digital wallets among consumers in the Asia Pacific, with 19.5% using such wallets, a two-fold increase from two years ago.