Apple Looking to Develop Mobile Payment Service

[PillowSmoke]

Apple is looking to develop a new mobile payment service on the back of its hundreds of millions of iTunes Store accounts, most of which have credit cards already attached, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The report claims Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president in charge of Internet Software and Services -- including the iTunes Store -- has met with other companies to discuss the company's desire to handle payments in retail stores and elsewhere.

Eddy Cue, Apple's iTunes and App Store chief and a key lieutenant of Chief Executive Tim Cook, has met with technology industry executives to discuss Apple's interest in handling payments for physical goods and services on its devices, according to people familiar with the situation.

In another sign of the company's interest, Apple moved Jennifer Bailey, a longtime executive who was running its online stores, into a new role to build a payment business within the technology giant, three people with knowledge of the move said.

Apple has been driving new payment technologies in its own retail stores, including the use of Bluetooth-based iBeacons and the ability to pay for smaller purchases through its Apple Store iPhone app, without the need to interact with a salesperson. 

At the moment, Apple only allows accountholders to use their stored credit card information for purchases on Apple's online and retail stores through its app as well as the iTunes and App Stores. The new Touch ID technology could speed up and authenticate purchases if Apple were to integrate that with its mobile payment service.

Tim Cook said last October that Apple would use its skills in building software, hardware, and services to create "great products" in categories that Apple does not participate in today. Passbook, the system that Apple released a few years ago to make it more convenient for customers using gift card or ticketing apps -- along with Touch ID, iBeacon, and its vast collection of saved credit card numbers -- could all be part of a larger mobile payments play by the company.

Mobile payments is a burgeoning industry, one that Tim Cook called "in its infancy" last year, with many players. Ebay's PayPal, Google, Square, Visa, Mastercard and American Express are all examining -- or have already developed -- mobile payment platforms.

 

Source: http://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/24/apple-mobile-payment-service/

[Imabigmac]

but WHY?

[miyabwah]

i see no reason to. top lel

[AlexGoesHigh]

[R4STABAN]

Sounds like a good idea. I'm wondering how the retailer will communicate with the device / differentiate between it and others. NFC.. maybe?

 

PS. ITT: "I hate apple rawrrrrrrr I am a big boy"

[alchemist11]

I'm still stunned it is taking over half a decade for mobile payment service for the west to come to fruition. It has been in Japan since 2006 developed in a collaboration of mobile operators and companies, including Sony (whose technology in this market is used by their competition as well). People are able to purchase train tickets, soda drinks from vending machines and pay just by waving the phone (RFID+NFC).

 

I guess the biggest restriction on why I think it has not come to the west (particularly the US and Canada) is the inability for the west to change because you are eliminating a salesperson or reducing their work hours and the potential security concerns. In addition, there would be no standard if many smaller companies developed their own little service (which is the case today). So, for this to really work, a Sony of the west, such as Google, Apple, Yahoo would need to develop it and implement it in a grand scale, which Google hasn't done with their Wallet system.

 

I could see this as a game changer in the mobile banking and payment space: integration of iBeacon (which is already integrated into Android devices as well - Samsung, HTC and Nexus devices), along with TouchID or similar technology, if not the same for Android devices (when making the purchase and for verification) for phones or wearable device such as a watch (especially this). Making a deal with any large retailer like Wal-Mart or Target instantly changes the landscape of mobile payments if those three technologies and devices are integrated with each other. You're eliminating waiting time, it makes retail shopping faster, convenient and maybe even enjoyable.

[Imaginaerum]

I'm still stunned it is taking over half a decade for mobile payment service for the west to come to fruition. It has been in Japan since 2006 developed in a collaboration of mobile operators and companies, including Sony (whose technology in this market is used by their competition as well). People are able to purchase train tickets, soda drinks from vending machines and pay just by waving the phone (RFID+NFC).

 

I guess the biggest restriction on why I think it has not come to the west (particularly the US and Canada) is the inability for the west to change because you are eliminating a salesperson or reducing their work hours and the potential security concerns. In addition, there would be no standard if many smaller companies developed their own little service (which is the case today). So, for this to really work, a Sony of the west, such as Google, Apple, Yahoo would need to develop it and implement it in a grand scale, which Google hasn't done with their Wallet system.

 

I could see this as a game changer in the mobile banking and payment space: integration of iBeacon (which is already integrated into Android devices as well - Samsung, HTC and Nexus devices), along with TouchID or similar technology, if not the same for Android devices (when making the purchase and for verification) for phones or wearable device such as a watch (especially this). Making a deal with any large retailer like Wal-Mart or Target instantly changes the landscape of mobile payments if those three technologies and devices are integrated with each other. You're eliminating waiting time, it makes retail shopping faster, convenient and maybe even enjoyable.

I'm lost. How would any of that be faster at Walmart than using a credit card? You still have to checkout all your items, and instead of someone fishing in their wallet they'd be cursing and swearing at the "dang smart device that won't work" and wind up backing up the line like always.

 

For things like vending machines or self-serve places I could see it being useful, but there's still millions of cash vending machines that work perfectly well and they must make enough money to keep them around, so it's not surprising people aren't willing to spend the extra cash to upgrade them. In Japan, with such a dense population and a ton of people using all sorts of conveniences, it's really no surprise they'd be among the first to upgrade to something that saves a ton of time for millions of people, but the west isn't quite as close quartered. I don't think I've ever seen a line at a vending machine.