Apple Pay Now Available to Customers of Swedbank and Bank Austria [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Swedbank, one of the largest banks in Sweden, has today announced support for Apple Pay.

"We want to be able to provide our customers a good range of digital and mobile services and Apple Pay is a sought-after service among our customers. We are pleased to now be able to broaden our mobile payment offer with yet another secure and smart alternative, which will provide lots of added value for our customers", said Lotta Lovén, Head of Digital Banking at Swedbank.

Swedbank customers are now able to add their Mastercard credit cards and Maestro debit cards to the Wallet app by tapping the plus button in the top-right corner.

Apple Pay can be used anywhere contactless payments are accepted with a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch. It is also accepted by select apps and websites.

Apple Pay launched in Sweden in October 2017, and with Swedbank now on board, up to 4.1 million more customers can gain access to the service in the country.

Apple Pay will be available in more than 40 countries and territories by the end of 2019, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

(Thanks to a tipster from Estonia!)

Update: As noted by MacRumors reader Adam Perjesi, Apple Pay is also now available at Bank Austria and Raiffeisen Bank in Austria.

Article Link: Apple Pay Now Available to Customers of Swedbank and Bank Austria [Updated]

 

[garethh]

I am glad it is here and would already be using it except for the fact that there are activation issues at the moment, at least in Latvia.

 

[Sandstorm]

YES! Seeing this announcement in my Swedbank Latvia app too. Finally! ?

PS - adding card produces time out error for now, but probably will be sorted out soon.

 

[Stalwart]

Too late. While they were slow with ApplePay i discovered that literally every other bank provides better customer service.

 

[Pupi]

Saw immediately from the language looking more Finnish than Swedish, that it couldn’t be Sweden. I don’t know, seems a bit inaccurate reporting to imply this is a release in Sweden, when it actually affects multiple countries where Swedbank has a presence.

 

[rmoliv]

Exactly, thought it was in Sweden but looking at the ad I immediately noticed it was written in some other language.

 

[urtules]

Too late. While they were slow with ApplePay i discovered that literally every other bank provides better customer service.

Apple Pay is not a bank, it's a payment method. I am curious how is your bank payment method more superior than Apple Pay. Does it work if you leave card home? Can it work online and in other apps? Does it protects your card details from the seller and generates random tokens to prevent creepy tracking? Does it stores your card information in the secure enclave.

 

[Secondempire]

Exactly, thought it was in Sweden but looking at the ad I immediately noticed it was written in some other language.

Yeah, that screenshot shows an app in Estonian, which is related to the Finnish language.

The big news is that Apple Pay is released for Swedbank in Sweden, because iPhone has a large market share here (about 50 % I think, similar to the US). And of the four storbankerna, only one has offered Apple Pay since the release in Sweden two years ago.

 

[Engie]

Exactly, thought it was in Sweden but looking at the ad I immediately noticed it was written in some other language.

This is Estonian language and the screenshot is taken from Swedbank Estonia app.
[automerge]1575474862[/automerge]

YES! Seeing this announcement in my Swedbank Latvia app too. Finally! ?

PS - adding card produces time out error for now, but probably will be sorted out soon.

Just add directly from wallet and not using a button from Swedbank app. We had the same issue here in Estonia, adding from the app fails, but adding directly from wallet succeeds.

 

[orcusoralis]

Saw immediately from the language looking more Finnish than Swedish, that it couldn’t be Sweden. I don’t know, seems a bit inaccurate reporting to imply this is a release in Sweden, when it actually affects multiple countries where Swedbank has a presence.

The language is actually Estonian, very similar to Finnish, but extremely different from Swedish.

 

[AeroZ]

Saw immediately from the language looking more Finnish than Swedish, that it couldn’t be Sweden. I don’t know, seems a bit inaccurate reporting to imply this is a release in Sweden, when it actually affects multiple countries where Swedbank has a presence.

Actually it's Estonian. Swedbank is also the largest bank in the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Apple Pay launched in Sweden and in Baltics together.

 

[DempaX]

Yes, please remove the s/s, it is very far from Swedish

 

[Syb56]

Apple Pay is not a bank, it's a payment method. I am curious how is your bank payment method more superior than Apple Pay. Does it work if you leave card home? Can it work online and in other apps? Does it protects your card details from the seller and generates random tokens to prevent creepy tracking? Does it stores your card information in the secure enclave.

I’m pretty sure that he meant something else.

 

[lartola]

Apple Pay is not a bank, it's a payment method. I am curious how is your bank payment method more superior than Apple Pay. Does it work if you leave card home? Can it work online and in other apps? Does it protects your card details from the seller and generates random tokens to prevent creepy tracking? Does it stores your card information in the secure enclave.

I think he meant to criticize Swedbank, not Apple pay; he meant Swedbank entered the game too late by taking too long to support apple pay, because other banks supported it before and those other banks also offer a better overall customer experience than Swedbank.
[automerge]1575488561[/automerge]

I’m pretty sure that he meant something else.

Yeah, that poster was clearly criticizing the bank mentioned in the article, Swedbank, for entering the apple pay game too late, not Apple Pay. I’m sure he loves apple pay, he already changed banks anyway to be able to use it, and probably other people did the same, hence why he says it’s too late for Swedbank.

 

[Pupi]

The language is actually Estonian, very similar to Finnish, but extremely different from Swedish.

Yeah, then I also figured from the Macrumors post it was Estonian. I knew it wasn't exactly Finnish, as I'm a bit of a Finnish speaker myself, just looked funnily close enough. It's also a trip when I hear Estonian. It's like I understand what it's being said, but not quite.

 

[cocoalektro]

Yes, please remove the s/s, it is very far from Swedish

Why? Swedbank, a Swedish bank, launched Apple Pay in several regions where it operates, including Estonia where this screenshot is taken. It’s rather difficult to understand why the screenshot should be removed. I do agree that the point about Apple Pay being available in the Baltic markets should be added to the OP as this is valid information and goes along with the image.

 

[Artem Bulashev]

And yet they call Russia a "developing Third world country"... ? every place that accepts paypass, accepts Apple Pay. I don't even cary wallet any more lol.

Apple Pay in Austria was introduced in Spring 2019, I live here, but even in Vienna center, shops freak out when you pay by your phone.... Ridiculous

 

[DempaX]

Why? Swedbank, a Swedish bank, launched Apple Pay in several regions where it operates, including Estonia where this screenshot is taken. It’s rather difficult to understand why the screenshot should be removed. I do agree that the point about Apple Pay being available in the Baltic markets should be added to the OP as this is valid information and goes along with the image.

Yeah, either talk about the other countries where Swedbank operates and launched Apple Pay or use screen shot from Swedish Swedbank I'd say. Now it states launch in Sweden with a screen shot from other country. Like posting a screen shot from a Mexican branch while writing an article about a US bank (which happens to also operate in Mexico)