U.S. bank Citigroup is linking up with tech giant Apple over digital payments in Asia.
New York-based Citi's credit cards in Asia are now linked to Apple Pay’s system in Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong and will be rolled out in Taiwan later this year, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.
The shift away from physical cards and wallets comes against the backdrop of Apple aggressively pushing into payments. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in February that he wanted to see the end of cash within his lifetime (he is 57). Apple as such isn’t a major financial technology provider yet, but its pay app, which allows iPhone and Mac users to link their credit cards to their Apple account, is growing quickly in the Asian Pacific region.
Leading banks in Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Japan have embraced the technology, which competes with local providers like WePay and Alipay. Australia by contrast so far has proved a tougher market for the Cupertino-based tech giant, with major banks resisting the implementation of the technology.
