Apple finally arrives with a payment service in Belgium

H the crown of options to pay with a smartphone in the store becomes larger and larger. Apple launches its Apple Pay payment service in November, De Tijd learned from several sources. The service is initially reserved for customers of the large bank of BNP Paribas Fortis. Other banks can only follow in a few months. BNP Paribas Fortis did not comment, local Apple spokespersons were not available for an answer.

To pay with Apple Pay, the customer adds his credit or debit cards to the Apple Wallet, the integrated digital wallet by Apple in its iOS mobile operating system. BNP Paribas Fortis groups the payment cards of Fortis and its subsidiaries Hello Bank and Fintro, as well as VISA and MasterCard credit cards.

NFC technology is the foundation of mobile payments. With this communication in the near field, the devices, in this case a smartphone and the payment terminal of the store, can communicate with each other at a very short distance. Apple has so far locked NFC technology. Owners of an iPhone could therefore not even pay for their mobile via the Bancontact app

All the rumors announcing the arrival of Apple Pay in our country were lively. The difficult war giant arrives relatively late in Belgium. Its rival, Google, had already announced in March 2017 the launch of its mobile payment service, then called "Android Pay". The first was also awarded to BNP Paribas Fortis.

Initially, the service was limited to credit cards, but last September, payment cards were added. KBC also jumped on board. Bancontact has already allowed payments via NFC technology for some time, but only on smartphones running Android, the operating system of Google. It is not clear for the moment if iPhone owners will now also be able to pay via mobile Bancontact.

In addition to NFC technology, there is a second way to pay for mobile services: scanning QR codes. Merchants, cafes or cafes have a QR code next to their cash register. The customer can scan to transfer the requested amount. In particular, Payconiq, which announced in March its association with Bancontact, has created a technological craze.

The arrival of Apple Pay can pay with the smartphone an extra boost in our country. According to GfK market research sales figures, the iPhone manufacturer is still the country's largest smartphone manufacturer. According to the number of devices, the Chinese Huawei is fighting for third place, after the Samsung market leader.

Most credit cards and credit cards in our country can also be paid without contact. Just keep the card near the terminal, after which the payment is done automatically. These cards also use NFC technology, so there is little difference between paying with a card or a smartphone. If this is not the case: for a contactless payment with the above card at 25 euros, a PIN code is required. On the smartphone, a fingerprint ("touch id") or a facial recognition ("facial"). Apple and Google could well make the difference with peer-to-peer payments. These are payments to friends or other contacts. With Apple Pay Cash, you can pay for your contacts via the iMessage email service. For the moment, this feature will no longer be available with the launch of Apple Pay.