Apple Pay could arrive in Pakistan as early as late December, with initial beta testing reportedly approaching. The development suggests that Apple is moving closer to introducing its payment service in the country.
According to information shared on Reddit, Apple has restricted the use of several overseas payment cards linked to Pakistan. These restrictions have reportedly remained in place for the past 4 to 5 months. As a result, users can no longer add cards from services such as RedotPay, Kast, and Fasset.
Initial testing with local bank cards suggests that Apple Pay may support premium cards first. These could include Visa Signature, Visa Platinum, Mastercard, and selected international debit and credit cards. However, American Express, UnionPay, and PayPak cards may not be supported at launch.
Several Pakistani banks could introduce the service during its initial rollout. These reportedly include Meezan Bank, Standard Chartered, HBL, Bank Alfalah, Faysal Bank, and Askari Bank.
Meezan Bank has already integrated newer payment gateway frameworks. These changes could help make transactions faster and more reliable. However, the banks have yet to announce official support for Apple Pay.
The service could also support airline boarding passes and local rewards programs. Testing reportedly showed that loyalty services from CBTL, Tim Hortons, and Coffemistry work with Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Meanwhile, Apple Cash is unlikely to arrive in Pakistan anytime soon. The information suggests that the service could remain unavailable for at least another two years. There is also speculation about a possible annual fee for using Apple Pay. This could come alongside existing bank charges and other service fees. However, no official pricing details have been confirmed.
Pakistan already has much of the infrastructure needed to support Apple Pay transactions. If the reported timeline proves accurate, users could soon have another option for contactless payments.
