Back in December 2018, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia signalled its intent to become the second of the "big four" banks to roll out support for Apple Pay. This eventually came to fruition earlier this year, almost three years after ANZ made Apple Pay available to its customers, leaving the National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac as the remaining holdouts.
It’s here. NAB customers can now use Apple Pay. Just add your NAB Visa Card and start using Apple Pay wherever you can tap and pay. Apple Pay with NAB. Easy. T&Cs apply. https://t.co/bs5t9VIGwT pic.twitter.com/fDY5vbMRDA
— NAB (@NAB) May 20, 2019
Now, that situation has changed once again, with NAB having announced immediate support for Apply Pay but only for personal or business NAB Visa credit and debit cards. The bank has also taken the opportunity to remind customers who use its PayTag, NAB"s attempt at its own mobile payment solution, to peel off and destroy them in order to avoid interference with Apple Pay. The financial institution has also advised that its PayTag service will be removed from sale from May 21 and corresponding accounts closed in "early July".
At this stage, NAB has not confirmed if Apple Pay will be made available to other credit and debit cards in its range. However, it has at least partially taken the lack of Apple Pay support off the table as an issue for its customers. Now, eyes turn towards Westpac to see how long it will continue to buck the trend set by its major competitors and remain out of step with its New Zealand arm which rolled out support for Apple"s mobile payment system at the beginning of April.