Apple has hired Visa Europe’s director of mobile, Mary Carol Harris, as the tech giant gears up for its expected launch of Apple Pay in Europe later next year.

Harris, an NFC industry veteran, helped lead Visa Europe’s development of contactless-mobile payments from early testing to the first rollouts. She confirmed the recent move on her LinkedIn page. And at least one other Visa Europe staffer, Duncan Olby, executive director for digital development, also confirmed he joined the Apple Pay team in Europe. Both of the moves took place this month, according to the LinkedIn profiles. 

Sources told NFC Times that European banks are interested in Apple Pay, but the sources doubt many banks would be willing to surrender any cut of their transaction fees as their U.S. counterparts have agreed to do. Transaction fees are generally much lower in Europe than in the U.S.