Apple Pay Now Available in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden – and CellPoint Mobile Supports It

Apple has made it official: as of October 24, 2017, Apple Pay is now available in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The mobile payment and digital wallet service, which launched in 2014, is already in 20 markets and handles 90% of mobile contactless transactions.

Here's some good news for travel operators in these markets - CellPoint Mobile is already on board with Apple Pay. Apple Pay (along with MobilePay, Android Pay, AliPay and other major APMs) is integrated into our Velocity payment platform, which powers our mobile and internet booking engines for airlines, as well as our mobile payment solutions for ground transportation, hotels, and ecommerce.

The Nordic region has long been recognized for its rapid transition to cashless payments, far outpacing the rest of the world. Apple Pay will have the benefit of entering markets with strong mobile payment infrastructures and consumers already accustomed to using alternative payment methods.

Among the benefits of Apple Pay for the travel market:

• Travel merchants can attract Apple iPhone users
• Apple Pay users can make instant, frictionless transactions
• No need for customers to enter card details every time they make a transaction
• Apple Pay is ideal for ancillary sales and day-of-travel promotions

CellPoint Mobile can be the entry point to Apple pay for travel merchants in the Nordic region eager to capitalize on the first-mover market benefits associated with this launch. With CellPoint Mobile, Apple Pay is a quick and easy plug-and-play integration.

Apple's entrance into the Nordic region highlights why travel merchants need flexible, scalable mobile solutions. Payments are a fast-growing and fast-changing market, and merchants need to stay up to speed with their customers' payment preferences. Apple is arriving in the Nordics relatively late and will have to compete with popular regional offerings such as MobilePay and Vipps. Still, as the largest technology company in the world, Apple is sure to have an impact on mobile payments in the Nordic region.

The real question for travel merchants is whether they can afford not to integrate Apple Pay. Although regional APMs are strong in the Nordic region, Apple Pay is the most widely used mobile wallet in the world. Apple practically invented mobile commerce with the iPhone and its app ecosystem. Travel merchants will need to accommodate not only new domestic Apple Pay users, but also visitors and tourists from other countries.

Of course, access to Apple Pay is just the latest in the litany of benefits that come with partnering with CellPoint Mobile. As a B2B technology company that provides sales and payment-side solutions to the worldwide travel sector, including airlines, rail and bus operators, and hotels, we help manage the end-to-end flow of profitable interactions and transactions from travelers' mobile devices.

The Nordic region has embraced cashless payments and mobile commerce, and gives us a glimpse into where travel commerce is headed: seamless travel experiences where every transaction is fast and secure on a mobile device. There is still much work to be done to build out this vision for every travel merchant, but integrating Apple Pay and other APMs is an effective starting point to capture new and higher mobile revenues. CellPoint Mobile offers ready-built solutions to implement APMs quickly, securely and with minimal costs.

Ready to learn more about Velocity, our payments solution that includes support for Apple Pay, and our other mobile solutions that can help transform travel commerce into mobile commerce and make travel easier for both providers and customers? Contact Jesper Tristan Harrishøj (jesper@cellpointmobile.com) or Andy Sale (andy@cellpointmobile.com).

Source: CellPoint Mobile