Apple Pay has been available in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar for a while now, but Apple has been working with local banking institutions to expand support even further. Apple Pay will soon be available to customers of more card networks in the UAE and Qatar.
UAE’s Jaywan and Qatar’s Himyan to support Apple Pay
As seen by 9to5Mac in iOS 18.4 beta 3 code, Apple has been working with UAE’s Jaywan and Qatar’s Himyan to add support for their cards to Apple Pay. For those unfamiliar, both are card networks (similar to Mastercard and Visa) that have their own payment systems.
While Himyan hasn’t said a word publicly about supporting Apple Pay, a document from Jaywan published a few weeks ago confirms its investments to “strengthen the UAE’s position as a global hub for digital payments,” which includes implementing support for Google Pay and Apple Pay.
In this context, AEP has signed agreements and partnerships with international payment networks including Discover, Mastercard, Visa, and UnionPay, to enable customers in the UAE to use Jaywan cards and expand their global usability.
AEP has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung Gulf Electronics to enable Jaywan cards into the Samsung Wallet, allowing users to make payments seamlessly via their smartphones.
The next phase will also see implementation of Jaywan on Google Pay and Apple Pay.
With Apple Pay, iPhone and Apple Watch users can add their cards to the Wallet app to make contactless payments in stores. Apple Pay also works online across apps and websites.
Since iOS 18.4 is expected to be released to the public in early April, it’s likely that Apple Pay will be expanded to Jaywan and Himyan cards sometime next month.
If you spot any other changes in the new betas from Apple, let us know in the comments below.
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