It isn’t available in Australia yet, but more than 1 million people signed up for Apple Pay in its first 72 hours, and the service is already the industry leader in contactless payments, Apple CEO Tim Cook told a Wall Street Journal tech conference in Laguna Beach, California.
“And we’ve got the whole rest of the world,” Cook said. “We’re only in the US right now … but the early ramp looks fantastic. It’s sort of that ‘ahh’ moment. You use the phone and that’s all you have to do.”
Apple Pay, unveiled just last month, is a mobile payment app that allows consumers to buy things by simply holding their iPhone6 or 6 Plus devices up to readers installed by store merchants.
But Cook’s comments came as a number of US retailers passed on Apple’s new electronic payments service to focus on developing a rival payments system in an apparent bid to lift profits and get rid of credit card transaction fees.
Wal-Mart, Rite Aid and CVS are among roughly 50 big retailers that have chosen not to accept Apple Pay, saying they are working instead on developing their own payment system, called Current C.
But MasterCard criticised the move, saying it would limit the options of consumers. “We are disappointed that both Rite Aid and CVS have decided to block their customers from using the payment method of their choice,” said a MasterCard spokesman.
