Apple Pay says bonjour to France
The French website for Apple's payments service now shows Apple Pay to be compatible with Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards issued by Carrefour Banque and Ticket Restaurant as well as Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne, an assemblage that includes France's second largest banking group (making up more than 20 percent of payment cards in circulation).
Credit card support at two other French issuers -- Boon and Orange -- is listed as "coming soon."
The trek to France marks the second new country for Apple Pay this month. In early July, the payments service expanded to neighboring Switzerland.
Apple Pay has become well-established among banks and retailers in the United States, where it supports all four major US credit cards. As rival services such as Samsung Pay and Google's Android Pay ramp up, Apple Pay needs to achieve a greater presence in other countries.
Several retailers located in France have already joined the Apple Pay bandwagon. The webpage points to support from the Apple Store itself, Bocage, Cojean, Eram, Sephora and Total, among others. Retailers listed as coming soon include Boulanger and Galeries Lafayette. Consumers in France will also soon be able to add loyalty cards to the Apple Wallet app and then use Apple Pay to make purchases and tap into their accumulated loyalty points.
At its Worldwide Developers Conference in mid-June, Apple announced that Apple Pay would expand to three more countries this summer. The moves to Switzerland and France are done. Hong Kong is now next on the list. The service is also available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, China and Singapore.
Apple Pay is expanding to the Mac as well. At WWDC, Apple revealed that Mac users would be able to use Apple Pay to purchase goods online from supported merchants via its Safari browser.
Apple did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.
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