Apple Pay Could Launch in Germany as Early as Next Month

Hints about when Apple Pay is coming to Germany have been few and far between over the last year, with negotiations between Apple and German banks allegedly stalling due to conflicting views over fees and controls.

The last rumor came back in May and suggested that Apple Pay would launch in the country in the fall or winter, but today one MacRumors reader provided us with another potential hint that Apple is gearing up to introduce its mobile payment system in Germany imminently.

apple pay germany
While setting up a new Apple Watch on the fifth regional betas of iOS 11 and watchOS 4, developer Philipp Ebener was presented with the option to add German bank cards to Apple Pay for the first time.

Philipp reports that he wasn't able to register any of his German credit cards with the system, but the fact that the feature has been partially enabled suggests full activation could come with the official public launch of both operating systems.

Apple will release the final version of iOS 11 and watchOS 4 at its next major event in September, where it is expected to debut new iPhone models and a new Apple Watch with LTE for a standalone cellular connection.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 11, Apple Pay
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2 Likely to Offer These 10 New Features

Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...

Top Rated Comments

sunny2k1 Avatar
103 months ago
I can confirm Germany, Netherlands and Austria in February. More new countries (e.g Poland) and banks for the first mentioned countries to follow with iOS 11.3.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
underkuerbis Avatar
109 months ago
Finally! Please let this rumor be true!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bruinselmann Avatar
109 months ago
Good, it's only been three years since I bought a new iPhone in anticipation of this feature.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Karma_isA_8itch Avatar
103 months ago
I think so too. N4p84 just copied whatever sunny said. At least the Dutch tech press totally ignored it this time.
Well thats exactly what I kept saying over and over again. Its very unhappy that Apple didnt announce anything tonight. Was looking forward to Apple Pay as well but they keep disappointing us.

Sunny see my twitter posted that 3 hrs ago :) and the other guy still think I’m a fake looool
You are absolutly right. I still think you are fake. You know Karma is a bitch. Dont pretend to know stuff you dont. It always comes right back at you.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Karma_isA_8itch Avatar
103 months ago
And that's what rumors are... "a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth".
So no need to complain, if some people just doubt it's validity.
Especially in times of "fake news" and stuff.

Let's just all be nice to each other and wait what will happen tomorrow. ;)
Of course you are right. That’s what rumors are. But this guy didn’t give any information. He just repeated some parts of what sunny told us and then added he doesn’t know it’s just a guess.

The screenshots he showed us obviously are bs you can easily recreate them. Noticed that between those two screenshots passed two minutes? Why do think is that? That’s about exactly the time it takes to change your region on the iPhone. Just fake.

Then he said in the evening he’ll show us Deutsche Bank Apple Pay. Now he announced he is not gonna show anything cause he does not have ****. Same goes for loads of other stuff he was talking on his Twitter.

Next check when Hans last signed in and when n4p84 created his account. Matches perfectly.

Then he says he lives in Austin, Tx. Yet his English is beyond the level of a 9 year old which tells me he is laying again. If you are 33 living in the US you should be able to make a full sentence without a mistake. He makes like theee mistakes each sentence. Check his Twitter.

Hans is from Frankfurt. N4p84 has a website in his twitter profile. M-nation.de

.de? Why? He lives in the US so how does this add up? I checked DENIC to see on whom the site is registered. The person lives in Ober-Ramstadt. Now guess what... it’s only a jump to Frankfurt where Hans is from.

If you want more just check his Instagram iemmix. Picture of him and the locations he has been to. Looking at that guy it from his looks it matches the name according to DENIC on whom the website is registered to. By looks I mean the name sounds Arabic or from the east and fits the way the guy looks. And again he is himself writing hashtags like #hessen under his photos which again supports what I said about him being Hans. Hans from Frankfurt, Frankfurt is in Hessen etc. This is another indicator for me that the guy who owns the above mentioned domain is n4p84 which proofs that he is lying about where he is from. And just about three days ago he was in Darmstadt which again is even closer to Frankfurt then Ober Ramstadt.

Now I can go on and on about this but in the end it adds all up to one point. This guy is Hans.

Why to tell rumors even if they are false? Because sunny made pretty clear that it is very likely that AP is gonna be announced today and Hans wants a share of Sunny’s “award”. Hans wants to be seen as a insider that knows stuff we don’t. Just trying to be important. That’s all.

What if I said Apple Pay is gonna launch today 100 % in Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Poland. It’s that simple to create a rumor but I cannot back up at thing I just said. Same with Hans and n4p84.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunny2k1 Avatar
103 months ago
So here some infos - mainly Apple Pay Cash related:

Apple Pay Cash hasn‘t from been coming to Europe so far, because Apple isn‘t allowed to charge fees - neither on credit nor on debit cards - because of the PSD2 rules. Apple nor any banking may not charge extra fees for transactions to the virtual Apple Pay Cash Card.

Apple Pay Germany seems to be „in the final stages“ of development. The girocards are now able to use the ELV system as well as the international used Vpay/Maestro system. My source confirmed me that Apple Pay can be launched „any day“ now. There are also first rumors for Austria popping up...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)