NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – In certain markets, Apple continues to face resistance from major banks, which, among other things, do not want to participate in an Apple-branded wallet. That’s true in Australia and in such major Western European markets as France, Spain and Italy, where only one major bank in each country is supporting Apple Pay.
That has also been true in New Zealand, where ANZ has not just been the only major bank but the only bank period supporting Apple Pay. This is about to change, however, with Bank of New Zealand, or BNZ, agreeing to make its Visa-branded debit and credit cards available for the Apple Wallet later this month. BNZ already supports Android Pay in New Zealand and continues to be the only bank in the country supporting the Google wallet.
But as it makes its final preparations to launch Apple Pay in New Zealand, BNZ has not trumpeted its participation in the Apple Wallet. It has not even issued a press release–at least not yet. Instead, it just issued a short statement on its site this week, saying Apple Pay would be coming sometime this month to the bank’s customers.
