I’ve been trying all morning to add my NBK debit card to my Apple Wallet but it didn’t work until just right now (around 3:30PM). I was able to add my credit card in the morning without a hitch but the debit card just wouldn’t work, every time I added it I’d never get the OTP code. Then while watching the video below by @talalalyagout I realized there is a way to add it through the bank app.
His video talks about his experience with his bank (which is AUB), but I checked my NBK app and I also found the option to add my card to the wallet through the app and it worked. So if you’re an NBK customer and had the same issue as me when adding the card and not getting an OTP, try adding the card to your wallet through the NBK app.
From my understanding, only 6 banks initially will have Apple Pay and they are:
AUB
Boubyan
CBK
Gulf Bank
KFH
NBK
If you’re ABK or Burgan Bank you’re out of luck for now. From the banks listed, it seems AUB, Boubyan and KFH were the earliest to get Apple Pay working today while NBK seems to be the last.
Whatever the case, finally, we now have Apple Pay in Kuwait.
46 replies on “Finally, Apple Pay Officially Launches in Kuwait”
Thanks Mark I added through the app and it finally works! Does Apple Cash work (sending money to folk through iMessage) or is it region based?
no I don’t think so, I think Apple Cash is completely different from Apple Pay but not really sure
Yeah it’s a different service – it may come next decade :’)
The main reason Apple pay took that long to arrive, is because Apple refused to open physical presence in Kuwait (avoid taxes). They made it though with yearly contracts with each individual bank (just like Samsung pay).
Apple Cash however is more like a banking service (trade money between two people without a bank in the middle), and impossible to regulated without physical presence, meaning it may never arrive in Kuwait.
Any clue why is the delay at Burgan?
No, no idea why its limited to just 6 banks to start with.
Man speaks good english !!🤯🤯
Debit cards form Nbk are also working now. You will get the code notification to activate it.
Works like Charm I was very thrilled when I used it today to pay for my lunch
Can someone leave the steps on NBK app or Wallet app , I added my debit card but it says to call nbr for verification which isn’t happening since thier lines are busy for the past 2 hours
https://www.nbk.com/en/kuwait/personal/cards/card-services/apple-pay.html
I was able to add my CBK debit card instantly… super pumped to test out tomorrow! Now I gotta figure out how to actually use it!
Double click the power button quickly
Just try deleting the card and enter details directly from the wallet app
What about Apple Card? Can it work in Kuwait?
Apple Card does work in Kuwait, it is only available in America and will never be available in kuwait due to regulations on banking.
I was hoping for KIB to be supported.
lol
Lool he real question is why do you even have a bank account there !
I literally use only ABK and Burgan Bank.
what are the odds 💀
Bruh!
Hey Mark, is there a cap on the amount that we can use Apple Pay with ? I was trying to purchase groceries of around 50 kd and it wasn’t going thru.
I don’t think so, but I could be wrong. My understanding it’s just digital knet
You would be required to enter a Pin if the amount is above 25KD
Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207435
Next post should be “Where was your first Apple Pay transaction?” in which you collect heartwarming stories about people in Kuwait paying for stuff with their iPhones while fighting back tears of joy!
I’ll go first:
My first Apple Pay transaction was at Habra, 360 and I even texted Chef Ahmad Albader after I paid, to which he replied شهادة أعتز فيها
🙂
hahahahaha
I used the phone to pay at Sultan Center, and then used my watch to pay at Subway drive thru. One thing that caught me by surprise, if you click the card on the wallet you get to see your last paymnets along with a map view of where that was!
mine has to be the most oddest one,
the first time was at Kuwait Airport for a bottle of water of 0.150 fills… LOL and i was pretty much thrilled while gazing eyes were on me as if i was an alien, infact the cashier kept holding the k-net machine and wasn’t passing me when i had the phone ready and was waiting for the card, so i had to tell him i would be paying through phone and than he passed. couldn’t be more random HAHAHA
BUT when i used again later that night at seaside’s 24/7 pizza hut, i came to notice that the transaction notifications from my bank were pretty late.
ABK doesn’t even have an exact date on when it’s coming. They keep saying soon. I ended up opening a GulfBank account online, though I still have to wait till Sunday to get the card and activate it.
There are few reports going around that there are extra charges while using Apple Pay especially when using credit cards; is there any truth to this?
reports = rumors
“card not added – contact your card issuer for more info”
Anyone know why does this happen while adding my NBK credit cards? Did it happen to anyone else?
My debit cards had the otp taking time but at night it went through. When I called NBK they said try later. I tried through the bank app I don’t have a option to add another card cause my debit card is already there in the apple pay section in the app.
remove the card and add it again
I did that many times doesn’t work. Once the page says “talking to card issuer” then I get the nbk terms I click agree
After that it I get the pop up “card not added – contact your card issuer for more info”
It is a issue I have not read anyone else face so far which is weird everyone has a easy experience for the credit card and mine doesn’t want to go through at all
when u called the bank they just told u to try again later?
Yeah I called the bank hotline and hit the special apple pay line.
They said we have a lot of pressure on the system try again later but I don’t think he understood what I’m going through cause he thinks its just otp thing I tried explaining he said just try again later
What’s annoying is I have to wait so long for the customer care to respond an in between that while waiting on hold I get other important work calls so i hang up and go on the hotline hold again
I was able to add my NBK debit card on the iPhone via the mobile app and sms verification but my apple watch requires phone verification and NBK call centre seems to be indefinitely on waiting probably due to high load from customers trying to activate apple pay. My banking friends told me that its an initial launch and will have some delays and issues at early stages. Hopefully it should be smooth in a couple of weeks. Burgan bank expecting to launch this service end of December. Seems as though they knew about the gaps in service and didnt want to launch a flawed system before it stabilizes.
i was able to add it to my watch using SMS otp
Great!
We’ve been using NFC Payment on Android devices since 2019.
But hell Apple pay is something else.
I wish Google Pay works here as well.
Can I use Apple pay (connected to my NBK debit card) to make payments abroad? I’ll be travelling to Amsterdam next week and was wondering if I can do that.
Apple Pay is like Knet, so if a place accepts your cards it will accept apple pay. They would just need a machine with touch payment which most places in Amsterdam have
This is exactly the reason why I think that only 6 banks are allowed is none sense because apple basically tokenizes your card data and it goes about the knet network. What would be the reason to stop a certain bank. Also when u add a card of a bank not ‘supported’ the error is this card is not approved by your bank or something on those lines.
You can send your business plans for Apple directly to them https://www.apple.com/contact/
Good to know. Is there going to be any extra charge?
Sorry, I just don’t want to run into an unforeseen situation
when will burgan bank be supported fr apple pay
Apple pay now available on burgan