Switzerland will get the mobile payments service Apple Pay on Monday, according to a new report from the German-language financial site Finews and paraphrased into English by MacRumors.
While it has not been specified whether either of Switzerland’s “big banks”, UBS and Credit Suisse, will support Apple Pay from the start, the Swiss private institution Cornèr Bank is named as one of the launch partners in the landlocked European country.
Switzerland’s small population of just over 8 million belies its significance as a global financial centre, being home to the two economic powerhouses of Zürich and Geneva. Provided that this fresh report is to be believed, the country also looks on course to be only the second in Europe – following the United Kingdom in July last year – to accept Apple Pay.
However, the service’s entry into the Swiss market isn’t exactly unexpected – as Apple had, in February, filed a trademark for Apple Pay with the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. Apple Pay can be used for making in-store payments on compatible iPhones and the Apple Watch and in-app purchases on these same iPhones and recent iPads.