Dubai: Even though Apple hasn’t officially launched its “Apple Pay” payment option with the touch of a finger in the UAE, people can still use this facility here.
The Apple Pay option is available only with the iOS 8.1 update released on October 20th and only to customers in the US.
It offers an easy, secure and private way to pay using Touch ID on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in stores and within apps and is designed to protect the user’s personal information. It doesn’t collect any transaction information that can be tied back to a user and payment transactions are between the user, the merchant and the user’s bank.
Apple said that the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, instead, a unique Device Account Number is created, encrypted and stored in the Secure Element of the device. The Device Account Number in the Secure Element is walled off from iOS and not backed up to iCloud.
Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, issued by the top US banks. In addition to American Express, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and others, who announced support in September, more than 500 new banks from across the country have signed on to Apple Pay.
But for it to work in the UAE, the user needs to have an American credit card and set the region to United States, only then can the user be able to enter the credit cards details.
The phone does not accept credit cards issued by banks in the UAE.
