Reminder: Apple Pay works only in the U.S. currently and is not compatible with iPhone 5s

 

Now that iOS 8.1 has been publicly released with Apple Pay support, major stores, restaurants and coffee shops have started rolling out support for Apple’s payment system. But here are a few limitations of Apple Pay you need to know about.

U.S. Only

Apple Pay, from the demoes, seems like a really great solution to payments in the real world, where you simply have to scan your fingerprint to authorise a payment at the counter. But the solution is US only for now. Apple has partnered only with banks in the US right now, but we’re hoping the company soon expands to other major markets, probably where NFC based payment solutions are already being used.

Apple Pay isn’t compatible with iPhone 5s

Apple Pay also supports online payments, through apps. Popular apps like Apple Store, Target, have been updated with support for Apple Pay payments. The newly introduced iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 both include a Touch ID sensor and support Apple Pay online payments, so we assumed that the iPhone 5s also supports online payments.

However, Apple says the iPhone 5s is incompatible with Apple Pay. Only the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 support Apple Pay online payments.



While Apple Pay will roll out internationally over time, we wonder if Apple could add Apple Pay online support to the iPhone 5s with a future software update.