MasterCard to support Apple Pay in Canada, Brazil and Asia in 2016

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By Larry Banks

A report on Monday suggests that Apple Pay will be available more widely in Canada, Brazil and some parts of Asia in 2016, with assistance from MasterCard, which will add credit card support in those regions later in the year.

The claim comes in an internal document obtained by tech site MacRumours, which says that MasterCard will support the smartphone-based card payment system in Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore in 2016. The accuracy of the document however is uncertain, so the publication is reporting the expansion as speculation.

Apple Pay is already available in Canada, but MasterCard support could mean more support is expected from larger card-issuing financial institutions, currently missing in the American Express partnership in the country. Canadian users are able to link first party American Express cards with their Apple Pay account but not co-branded cards, for example ones offered though banks such as Scotiabank.

Besides Canada, MasterCard is said to be considering rolling out in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, countries where wireless payment systems are already established. Furthermore, the credit card firm is seeking to debut Apple Pay support in Brazil, a growing market for Apple’s products.

Last year, Apple announced that Apple Pay would launch in Singapore, Hong Kong and Spain in 2016, but didn’t reveal any specifics on the matter. It’s possible that the firm was simply referring to the MasterCard partnership.

SOURCE: MacRumours.

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