France is one of Europe's top-two e-commerce markets, worth roughly 150 billion euros a year, and card (mainly CB) remains the default payment method. Apple Pay tokenizes that same card and layers it onto the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Safari, so it moves existing card users onto one-tap payment without requiring any new payment habit. The key benefit for online conversion is that Face ID and Touch ID authentication naturally satisfies PSD2's SCA requirement.

It is especially well suited to fashion, beauty, ticketing, and subscription services with high mobile traffic, and to merchants concerned about drop-off during guest checkout. Removing the card-number entry step and the 3DS screen redirect has an even bigger effect on low-value, impulse-purchase product categories.

When a consumer taps the Apple Pay button, the payment is composed from a tokenized card stored on the device, and Face ID or Touch ID biometric authentication completes the approval. The actual card number is never passed to the merchant thanks to the token structure, and because biometric authentication itself satisfies PSD2's SCA, authentication completes without a separate 3DS screen redirect.

Displaying the Apple Pay button can be considered on top of Hecto Financial's existing card payment integration. Because requirements differ by channel — web (Safari), in-app, and so on — and technical steps such as domain verification are involved, consultation moves faster once you've decided which channels to apply it to.

• Business registration country

  Confirm contract eligibility based on a Korea-registered business

• Sales channels

  Integration method and priority differ depending on your online sales channel mix — owned storefront, marketplaces, mobile app, and so on

• Product categories

  Check in advance whether your product categories fall under Apple Pay's restricted merchant categories

• EU regulatory compliance

  Confirm compliance with EU payment regulations such as PSD2 and SEPA (see official sources below)

Even when paid via Apple Pay, funds flow the same way as the underlying loaded card transaction — in euros (EUR) — and Hecto Financial receives the EUR, converts it, and settles to the merchant in whichever of USD, KRW, or JPY is selected in the contract. Refunds are processed as a cancellation of the original transaction, and French consumers' 14-day withdrawal requests can be handled through the same route.

• Banque de France (Central Bank of France)Official information on France's payment systems and related regulations. If this page's content differs from actual regulations, the official source takes precedence.
• Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR)The authority that licenses and supervises payment service providers. Useful for confirming payment service regulations in France.