Kirk McElhearn, writing for MacWorld, makes the case that though Apple Pay will certainly be a big deal in the US, it won’t have the same disruption potential in Europe.

That’s because, in Europe, credit and debit cards are based on a chip-and-PIN (personal identification number) system, rather than the swipe-and-sign system more common in the U.S. Chip-and-PIN cards use an embedded chip, rather than a magnetic strip, to encode your identity data. And they rely on your entering a four-digit personal identification number, rather than just signing your name or swiping the card through a reader, to endorse a transaction.

Because of this chip-and-PIN technology—first used in France more than 20 years ago, and widely used for more than a decade in other countries on the continent—fraud is substantially lower in Europe than it is in the United States, where it cost $5.3 billion in 2013.

Solid premise, though I suspect that if Apple Pay gains enough traction in the US, the desire for tourist dollars and compatibility with US payment mechanisms (phones/watches/etc) will provide the force needed to cross that chasm.