Can be used at any of the contactless point of sale terminals used by Visa cardholders throughout France
Visa has announced that Visa debit and credit cardholders from French banks Banque Populaire et Caisse d’Epargne (BPCE group) now have access to Apple Pay, which launches today.
This gives consumers with compatible iPhones and Apple Watch an easy, secure and private way to pay. Apple Pay can be used at any of the contactless point of sale terminals used by Visa cardholders throughout France.
Gérard Nébouy, regional managing director France, commented: “Consumer demand for contactless payments combined with the huge popularity of smartphones incorporating near field communication (NFC) technology has put in place a foundation for a shift from plastic to digital.”
He added: “With today’s launch of Apple Pay, it is clear that mobile solutions will fast become a popular way to use a Visa card. French people are really enthusiastic for new ways to pay using the devices they carry each day, and we are proud to be taking an active part in enabling this transformation of commerce.”
Apple Pay can be used to touch and pay wherever Visa contactless payment is accepted. France already has over 400,000 merchant locations live with contactless payment today, with mandates in place for all merchants to accept Visa contactless payment by 2020.
Visa with Apple Pay works with any contactless point of sale terminal and is designed to work for payments of any amount using Touch ID to verify the cardholder. The number of French businesses that accept mobile payments over the Euro 20 contactless threshold in their stores, is growing very rapidly and Visa is seeing many more shops and restaurants making the necessary software upgrades to support high value payments; indeed, Visa expects that, by the end of the year, most contactless terminals in France will accept payments of any value made via mobile devices.
