Is this a sign that Apple Pay is coming to Malaysia?

When it comes to contactless transactions, most iPhone users in Malaysia are still waiting for the day when Apple Pay is supported. Similar to Samsung Pay, Apple Pay allows you to store your credit or debit cards onto your iPhone to make NFC payments.

We’ve been tipped that once you’ve updated your iPhone to iOS 13.6, you’ll see a new “Wallet & Apple Pay” option under settings. This is also spotted on iOS 14 Beta 3 with region settings set to Malaysia. Typically, this option only appears if you’re in a country with official Apple Pay support.

The Wallet & Apple Pay section allows you to add a card by taking a picture or entering your card details manually. We tried adding credit cards from CIMB, Citi and Maybank but they are not supported at the moment. Usually, once your card details are submitted, you’ll receive a One Time Passcode (OTP) via SMS from the bank to verify the final step.

Typically, Apple will hide features that are not available in the country. For the Apple Pay option to appear in our region is a sign that Apple Pay support in Malaysia could be just around the corner.

Apple Pay will only work with participating banks and card issuers, and we reckon it would support a small number of banks in the initial stage. When Samsung Pay was launched in Malaysia back in 2017, it only supported selected debit and credit cards issued by CIMB, Citi, Maybank and Standard Chartered Bank.

For Asia Pacific, Apple Pay is officially available in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan. When the service was launched in Singapore in 2016, it initially supported American Express cards before expanding to other card types from different banks.

You can use Apple Pay by tapping your device on a contactless card terminal such as Visa PayWave and Mastercard Paypass. Payments will need to be authenticated via Face ID, Touch ID or with a passcode. It is supported on the iPhone 6 and above. Apart from the iPhone, Apple Pay also allows you to make NFC payments via your Apple Watch.

Did you get the Apple Pay option under settings? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks to Farhad Mohd Azmi for the tip!