Initially, five banks and one startup will join the system.
Apple Pay will launch in the Czech Republic on 19 February.
One of the most anticipated experiences of this year, in terms of Czech iPhone owners, will take place in ten days.
The launch of Apple Pay payment service, Apple Pay, is being floated for Tuesday 19 February.
This information came from a couple of financial structures, including credit card associations.
The system of mobile payments from Apple corporations works by numbering the payment cards of users, thanks to which we can pay in the store not only with a physical card, but also with a smartphone or a watch with the iOS operating system – just as it has been possible to pay in the Czech Republic with an android phone for over a year.
One of the first to join the system will probably be five banks (Česká spořitelna, Komerční banka, Moneta, mBank, Air bank) and the Czech startup Twisto. Those not covered by the first wave will have to wait at least a few months. The next information window CzechCrunch.cz, Apple will open in the summer.
Twista, which is part of the traditional banking system, means that, firstly, it is preferred over its British competitor Revolut, which will not work with Apple Pay in the Czech Republic or any other country. Second, the ability to attract customers of other banks.
Those who don’t want to change banks for Apple Pay can open an account with Twist and pay with it.
In addition, in the words of the company’s driver Michal Šmida, already this year, users will be offered the possibility of storing their cards directly in Twist, which will make the procedures even easier.
For now, the question is whether all banks will support both Visa and MasterCard from the start of Apple Pay in the Czech Republic. Well, the last list of credit organizations who will be added to the system can be reduced at the last moment – it has already happened at Apple.
Actually, CSOB has already announced in its Tweet that it plans to connect to the system by the end of the year. Raiffeisenbank has announced that it wants to hit the second wave, but exactly when is unclear. The situation with Fio Bank, Creditas and Equa bank is not clear: they did not respond to CzechCrunch.cz’s inquiry. But we can assume that they are all planning to provide the service this year.
