Mobile Payments Leader Apple Pay Set to Hit Germany Next

File it under “better late than never,” but new reports suggest that the German market is about to get access to the Apple Pay mobile payments system. It’s the biggest economy in Europe, and by a healthy margin, so it may seem rather odd that it took this long to get in on Apple Pay, which has been on an upward tear in terms of adding new countries, regions, and end users.

Apple’s German website features “Kommt bald”, essentially “coming soon” with its Apple Pay page, while HypoVereinsbank features a similar notation, “In Kurze bei uns: Apple Pay.” HypoVereinsbank is one of the largest banks in Germany, which will open up plenty of new potential users to the Apple Pay roster. It’s already established a website that will notify users when the service is ready to be actually put to work.

HypoVereinsbank would be enough by itself, but that’s just the start. Several other institutions are also reportedly on the hook, including ComDirect, Boon, Edenred, Fidor, Bunq, Hanseatic Bank, and a whole roster of others.

This actually comes on top of earlier word from Apple, which put Apple Pay in another 38 new banks and credit unions alike just in the United States, as well as one new Chinese institution. It’s also made new inroads in Spain, Brazil, Poland, and Ireland. CEO Tim Cook also noted that Apple Pay had already seen some solid growth numbers back in the first quarter of 2018, so it’s really just building on that.

Why exactly it took Apple Pay so long to breach what is the largest economy in Europe by nearly 1.5 to one over its nearest competitor is unclear, but it’s a safe bet the old issues were likely afoot here. There were almost certainly security concerns—those show up everywhere—as well as the sheer inertia of cash and other payment cards. It’s proven remarkably difficult to breach an industrialized market with mobile payments systems, because mobile payments systems don’t actually fix a problem in a place where you can pay by cash, card, or other option altogether.

Still, there will likely be enough gee-whiz factor to drive at least some business in the region, and Apple Pay will benefit from the fresh cash infusion.