Apple Pay is accelerating its expansion in Asian markets with its entry into the Philippines. However, it has yet to enter India, Thailand, and Indonesia, and in South Korea, the number of partner card companies has not increased over three years since its launch. Payment methods already established in each country and financial institutions' interests are acting as barriers to Apple Pay's expansion.
According to foreign media reports on the 24th, Apple launched Apple Pay services in the Philippines in August. Four financial institutions—China Bank, Cimb Bank, Metrobank, and UnionBank—participated. Users can register credit and debit cards issued by these institutions into Apple Wallet and make payments via Apple Pay both online and offline.
Apple Pay's expansion in Asia has been slow. While available in major Asian countries including South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, it has not entered large-population markets like India, Thailand, and Indonesia. This contrasts with the increasing iPhone sales in these countries.
This is related to Asia's unique payment environment. In the U.S. and Europe, contactless payments based on credit/debit cards have spread, allowing Apple Pay to replace physical cards with smartphones. However, in some Asian countries, mobile payment infrastructures based on QR codes and bank transfers were already established before Apple Pay's entry.
India is a prime example. Mobile payments have become commonplace in India through a government-supported real-time payment system. Users link bank accounts to mobile applications and make payments via QR codes. Apple Pay is rumored to possibly enter India as early as October, but it is likely to be used only by a limited segment of cardholders using iPhones.
Thailand and Indonesia are similar. In Thailand, QR payments have become a daily payment method based on a national payment system introduced in 2016. Indonesia also has a nationwide standard QR payment system, and local platform payment services like Grab, Gojek, and Shopee have established themselves.
Ultimately, the barriers Apple Pay faces in Asia vary by country. In India, Thailand, and Indonesia, it must compete with already widespread national payment networks. Local financial institutions also have little incentive to adopt Apple Pay. Since they are already directly connected to customers through their own payment networks, introducing Apple Pay would add Apple to the payment process. This could reduce the customer touchpoints financial institutions have secured and require sharing a portion of revenue from card payments with Apple. The cost burden from adopting Apple Pay is significant.
South Korea, however, presents a different situation. Samsung Pay has established itself as the dominant mobile payment method over QR payments, and the iPhone user base is substantial. Despite this, Apple Pay's partner card companies remain limited to Hyundai Card alone, over three years after its domestic launch in 2023. This contrasts with the Philippines, where four financial institutions participated from the launch. In South Korea, challenges include NFC payment infrastructure, fee burdens, and expanding card company participation.
