5 Canadian banks step up to support Apple Pay

Debit and major credit cards issued by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) will support the mobile payment technology that allows iPhone users to pay for things using their smartphone or Apple Watch.

More than that, Apple Pay will be available to Canadian Tire Bank and ATB Financial cardholders this week. Those who bank with BMO Financial will also be able to use Apple Pay in the coming weeks.

CIBC and RBC customers will be able to use Apple Pay with their MasterCard, Visa, and American Express credit cards, as well as their debit cards; however, Canadian Tire Financial will only support its credit card.

What`s more, Bank of Montreal (BMO) and the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) will also roll out support for Apple Pay in the coming months.

The tech giant Apple first launched the service in the US in October 2014, but Canadians weren’t able to use it until November 2015 – even then the launch was limited to American Express cardholders only. Thus, the bank’s move marks a significant step for Canada’s adoption of mobile payments.

In addition, Ensuring Interac, Canada’s domestic debit network, also works with Apple Pay. Without it, the service would have been limited to credit cards. According to Interac, Canadians are among the highest users of debit in the world, using Interac an average of 16 million times daily.

In order to use Apple Pay, Canadians must first input their debit or credit card information into the iPhone using the “Wallet” app. Afterwards, the bank or financial institution will create and transmit a unique device code (token), which is stored on a secure chip inside the customer’s phone (the actual card number is not stored on the device).

To make a purchase, the customer will use the Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the device to authorize the purchase at a payment terminal with NFC technology, also known as the “tap to pay” machine. A transaction code is then generated and sent to the financial institution, along with that unique device code, to process the transaction. The feature is available on iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus running the latest iOS software.