Mobile payment Stories May 19, 2016
The Fitbit Blaze 'fitness watch'
The Fitbit Blaze ‘fitness watch’
With the Apple Watch the most convenient way to use Apple Pay, Fitbit appears set to bring contactless payment tech to its fitness bands from next year.
After acquiring mobile payment company Coin earlier this month, Fitbit hinted to TNW that it would add NFC payment capabilities to one or more of its devices next year …
Mobile payment Stories May 17, 2016
Remember MCX CurrentC, the QR-code based mobile payment system that attempted to take on Apple Pay? Launched two years ago, it immediately started creating waves when it required its retail members to switch off Apple Pay or be fined. If that weren’t bad enough, it was quickly hacked.
Apple Pay fans made fun of the service in app reviews, and it wasn’t long before retailers started to break ranks and we saw some rapid back-pedalling on Apple Pay from one CEO before he was replaced by another.
Little has been heard from MCX since, and it’s no surprise that the consortium finally appears to be giving up on the idea – though it has stopped a little way short of admitting as much …
Mobile payment Stories August 6, 2015
Retail data analytics firm InfoScout has told payment industry conference PYMNTS R2 that the percentage of U.S. iPhone 6 owners who have tried Apple Pay fell from 15% in March to 13.1% in June. Usage has also fallen sharply among those who have tried the service. Surveying iPhone 6 owners who have previously used Apple Pay and were shopping in a store that accepts the payment method, the percentage using Apple Pay fell from 39.3% in March to just 23% in June.
Payment industry site Pymnts suggests that while the fall is in some ways unsurprising, Apple must also accept part of the responsibility … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories February 24, 2015
Visa Europe has announced that its European contactless payment terminals will support the tokenization service used by Apple Pay by mid-April. This would allow Apple to introduce Apple Pay to Europe anytime from this point on. MasterCard has advised us that it already supports tokenisation globally.
Tokenisation technology will be at the heart of new mobile payment solutions and has been hailed as one of the best data protection and fraud prevention methods available. The new service will be available for financial institutions [in Europe] from mid-April 2015.
Although Europe has had contactless payment cards for several years, these currently transmit the actual card details to the terminal. Apple Pay, in contrast, transmits single-use codes which card companies can map back to the actual card, a functionality currently only available on the Visa network in the USA. As of mid-April, that functionality will be available in Europe too … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories February 18, 2015
Staples has revealed that Apple Pay is now the most popular form of payment in its iOS app, used for 30% of purchases made using the app. Apple Pay also appears to have driven new sales, with almost two-thirds of those transactions being from first-time Stapes customers, reveals FierceMobileIT.
“Apple Pay has been one of the most successful implementations when it comes to payments. […] Right now it’s the number one payment method for us in our iOS apps,” said Prat Vemana, vice president of mobile commerce for Staples.
Vemana also revealed that while Staples has both iOS and Android apps, with usage split pretty evenly between the two, Apple owners are more profitable, generating 70% of mobile purchases … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories December 29, 2014
Brits waiting impatiently for Apple Pay to launch in the UK may not have too much longer to wait, reports the Telegraph. Sources involved in talks taking place between Apple and “Britain’s top banks” have stated that the service is expected to launch in the UK in the first half of 2015.
A job listing revealed earlier in the month that Apple had a London-based team working on rolling out the service across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories December 19, 2014
The value of Apple Pay in one stat: almost half of Americans have had card details stolen
Apple Pay may be more convenient than carrying around a whole bunch of different cards, and contactless payment is certainly very quick and easy, but it’s the security which is arguably the greatest benefit. Your actual card details are never stored in your phone or on an Apple server, and only a one-time code is sent to the payment terminal. Retailers never see your card details.
Just how important is this? A WSJ/NBC News poll reveals that a full 45% of Americans have been told by a retailer, bank or card company that their card details have been stolen in a data breach.
In the past year alone, major breaches have been reported at Target, J.P. Morgan Chase, Home Depot, K-Mart, SuperValu and others […]
Some 45% of Americans said they had received such a breach notification letter from a retailer or card-issuer that their payment data had been affected by a breach
Fifteen percent of those polled also said that they had been hit by online fraud or hacking.
Apple Pay is currently only available in the US, but a job listing recently revealed that Apple is working on bringing the service to Europe and beyond.
Mobile payment Stories December 16, 2014
Apple Pay may be leaving Google Wallet in the dust when it comes to adoption, but Google hasn’t given up yet. It’s just updated its iOS app to support Touch ID, add optimization for the iPhone 6/Plus and enable you to split bills between friends … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories November 12, 2014
Square chip-and-signature cardreaders available for pre-order ahead of next year’s changes
It may not yet be practical for micro businesses to fork out for the expensive NFC payment terminals needed for Apple Pay, but Square is ensuring that they will at least be all set for the shift to chip-and-signature cards next year.
As of October 2015, any retailer without a chip-and-signature reader will bear the risk of fraudulent transactions, giving them a strong incentive to update their cardreaders. Fortunately, with Square, it’s not an expensive shift: the iPhone reader will cost just $29 – the cheapest on the market – while the Chip Card Accessory for the Square Stand iPad terminal costs $39.
It will be interesting to see whether Square is later able to develop a low-cost NFC reader to support contactless cards and Apple Pay, but in the meantime both chip-and-signature products are available for pre-order now, with delivery early next year.
Mobile payment Stories November 11, 2014
Shortly after retail chain Whole Foods announced that it had processed 150,000 Apple Pay transactions in the three weeks since the service was launched – estimated at around 1% of the company’s sales – a business author and senior Hitachi consultant has spoken about the twin attractions of Apple Pay for retailers.
Jim Maholic, author of Business Cases that Mean Business and vice president in Hitachi Consulting, said major retailers had two main reasons to favor Apple Pay over rival mobile payment service CurrentC … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories November 5, 2014
While Apple Pay has grabbed all the attention in the mobile payment field, with the Google Wallet service launched back in 2011 having failed to make the same kind of splash, it appears that Google may be benefiting from the publicity generated by Apple. Sources cited by arsTechnica report that Google Wallet service has seen the number of users almost double, with a 50% increase in weekly transactions during the past couple of months … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories October 25, 2014
CVS Pharmacy has decided to disable all NFC terminals in all of its stores after it was discovered that Apple Pay would work with the hardware. CVS sent a memo to its stores, which was posted by SlashGear, saying that Apple Pay was not a supported payment type and that customers would have to choose some other payment method in order to check out.
The notice also explains the reason for the change: CVS is currently part of a consortium of retailers attempted to create an alternative mobile payment method called CurrentC. The new system isn’t based on NFC. It is, however, based on something you’ve probably seen before…
Mobile payment Stories September 15, 2014
While we’d all expected plastic bank cards to be replaced by apps eventually, the CEO of mobile banking startup Moven is suggesting that Apple’s backing could mean the end of physical bank cards within 2-3 years.
The additional sweetners here are three fold. Firstly, tokenization will avoid much of the type of breaches we’ve seen at Target and Home Depot because the token is only a one-time use thing. Secondly, the move to tokens and the combination of biometrics, etc allow for the emergence of a ‘cardholder present’ approach to interchange rates that will potentially give mobile payments a competitive merchant rate. Lastly, the US might effectively jump straight from magstripe to mobile, especially if issuers can figure out how to reduce the cost of card replacement by moving straight to mobile SE and tokens …
Mobile payment Stories September 8, 2014
Apple hyping up tomorrow’s event by forwarding homepage to event live stream
We’re less than 24 hours away from Apple’s big iPhone 6, iWatch/iBand, and mobile payments event. Apple is continuing to raise hype for the event by forwarding its www.apple.com homepage to the actual live stream page for the event. We’ll know for sure tomorrow, but it seems like Apple believes it has several surprises in store for tomorrow. We’ll have a full news hub with the latest coverage before, during, and after the event tomorrow.
Mobile payment Stories September 7, 2014
Apple reportedly planning to implement tokenization in NFC payment system
We may finally have a reason for why Apple Stores and some other stores are installing new NFC payment hardware ahead of the iPhone 6 launch. Apple is reportedly planning on implementing a security feature called tokenzation in the system, which removes the necessity to transmit account numbers or other critical personal details wirelessly (via Bank Innovation).
This tokenization system employs secure codes become useless after being used once. That boosts security by ensuring that any information captured by nefarious third-parties doesn’t give them access to your account or money. However, not all NFC payment terminals can accept this type of payment.
In order to support the iPhone 6, stores will need to upgrade to point-of-sale systems that will function with these tokens. That’s likely why Apple has upgraded its in-store systems and McDonald’s restaurants are receiving new terminals for rollout around the time of the device’s launch despite some stores already supporting NFC payments, while a few other retailers rumored to be on board with Apple’s system are installing NFC terminals for the first time.
Apple will debut on the next iPhone on Tuesday, alongside a wearable device that is also rumored to support NFC payments.
Mobile payment Stories July 27, 2014
Amazon could be preparing to launch its own mobile credit card reading hardware in the coming weeks, according to internal Staples documents hinting at such a launch that we’ve obtained. According to the documents, Staples stores will prepare next month to stock a new product called the “Amazon Card Reader” alongside existing card readers from Square, PayPal, and Staples’ own in-house brand. The small hardware, which will likely connect to smartphones to process payments, will cost $9.99, according to the Staples internal sales systems…
Mobile payment Stories July 23, 2014
The Information has a new report out discussing Apple’s progress on a mobile wallet payments service. The post echoes reporting by 9to5Mac earlier in the year.
The report says the service may launch this fall, enabling iPhone users to pay for goods with their devices in retail outlets. Apple has apparently discussed the plans with credit card institutions, according to the report, as a user’s banking information “would essentially be uploaded to the wallet”. Apparently, Visa is already onboard with the project.
Mobile payment Stories June 5, 2014
When Apple unveiled the Touch ID API during its WWDC keynote earlier this week, users and developers alike immediately started considering possible uses. It seems PayPal was also quite interested in putting the fingerprint technology to work in its mobile app.
According to Business Insider, several PayPal developers attended a WWDC session on the new API and the company is actively considering its implementation. The idea here is likely to get a head-start on Apple, which is currently said to be working on its own mobile payment service in conjunction with several major payment processors.
Mobile payment Stories May 13, 2014
According to Shanghai Mobile analyst Frank Hill, Apple has reached a deal with mobile payment provider China UnionPay that would enable the next iPhone to make purchases at millions of supported Chinese point-of-sale devices. This would work in conjunction with NFC hardware said to be included in the next iPhone model.
UnionPay works with many of China’s major banks, and is the only domestic mobile payment company operating in the country. Several banks have reportedly been invited by UnionPay to participate in the development of a new system that is compatible with iOS devices.
While rumors of NFC in the iPhone have been relatively rare compared to some previous upgrade cycles, this isn’t the first time this year we’ve seen mentions of the technology finally making its way into Apple’s smartphone. Last month a report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicated that we’d see near-field communication in the upcoming device.
Mobile payment Stories April 28, 2014
Apple has at least twice as many credit cards on file as Amazon
If one chart could show just how well-positioned Apple is to make a move into mobile payment, this tweet from Horace Dediu is it. iTunes has four times as many active accounts as Amazon – and since we know from Tim Cook that “the majority of those have credit cards behind them,” that means Apple has at least twice as many credit cards on file as the ecommerce giant.
There has been a little confusion around the numbers, with some sources suggesting Apple has four times as many credit cards on file as Amazon, based on a claim that “most” iTunes accounts have cards linked to them. But the actual phrase used by Cook was “the majority” – which could mean anything from 51 percent up.
Tim Cook as good as confirmed that mobile payment via Touch ID is on the way when he said in January that “it was one of the thoughts behind Touch ID” and “a big opportunity” for the company.
It has previously been reported that Apple plans to allow customers to purchase physical goods from other retailers through an iTunes account, just as can be done in Apple’s own retail stores using the Apple Store app. Just last week, Apple was said to be interviewing candidates from the payment services field.
Via Business Insider
Mobile payment Stories April 9, 2014
Re/code is reporting that both Apple and Google have considered making acquisition offers for payments company Square, with CEO Jack Dorsey said to favor a sale to Apple.
In the last year, both Apple and Google have considered making acquisition offers for Square, according to industry sources familiar with the situation […]
[Dorsey] believes, sources said, that his company’s design aesthetic and values match up much more closely with Apple than Google …
Mobile payment Stories March 13, 2014
Get into AAPL in April, suggests analyst, anticipating soft Q2 numbers before new products kick in
Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair has suggested that Apple’s share price could be temporarily depressed by disappointing Q2 results in March before climbing by as much as 20 percent in response to new products in the fall, reports Barrons.
This gap between what is actually happening at Apple and investor sentiment is providing an opportunity for investors. We believe this opportunity should be taken advantage of before Apple’s next array of products hit the market, though the best time to own the stock may be in April after we get the March quarter/June guide behind us.
Blair cites several factors for expecting the stock to take a hit in March when Apple reports its earnings for its Q2 fiscal year (Q1 calendar year). Among them are the general slowdown in the saturated high-end smartphone market, continued soft demand for the iPhone 5c, overly-optimistic market forecasts for China Mobile sales and a reduction in the number of people upgrading their iPhone as they wait for the rumored larger-screen phone(s) in the fall.
The longer-term outlook is, however, excellent, believes Blair. He expects Touch ID to be rolled out across all iPhones and iPads in readiness for the launch of a mobile payment solution, and he thinks the expected larger iPhone 6 will sell well, especially in Asia.
In terms of completely new products, Blair is predicting the launch of the iWatch in September and a 12-inch display device he expects to see unveiled at WWDC, whether it is the much-rumored iPad Pro or a new 12-inch MacBook Air.
As ever, make your own decisions where investments are concerned …
Via CNET
Mobile payment Stories March 12, 2014
Starbucks app adds shake-to-pay and tipping that lets you change your mind
An updated version of the Starbucks app expected next week will add a shake-to-pay feature and let you add a tip of between 50 cents and $2, reports Engadget.
Shake-to-pay just means that if you’re on another screen of the app when you get to the front of the queue, you can simply shake your iPhone to bring up the barcode instantly.
The tipping function allows you to adjust the amount of your tip for up to two hours afterwards, presumably in case they manage to spill your second cup of Americano or the barista creates a particularly artistic piece of latte art for you.
The current free Starbucks app, incidentally, is Sleep Cycle alarm clock, normally $0.99.
Mobile payment Stories February 19, 2014
Mobile payment app Venmo received a big update today that introduces a new way to quickly send money to nearby friends. It works just as easily as Apple’s AirDrop sharing system. The app uses Bluetooth to detect nearby Venmo users and lists them above your recent payment recipients when sending money.
While some apps make the process of sending money relatively quick, Venmo has the added benefit of making it easy to pay people around you without needing to enter any contact details at all, even if you’ve never met them before. The only catch is that both parties need to be using Venmo for the feature to work.
Venmo is available for free on the iOS App Store.
Mobile payment Stories February 18, 2014
How big a thing could Touch ID mobile payment be? China alone hit $1.6 trillion last year
With Tim Cook having as good as confirmed that mobile payment via Touch ID is on the way, numbers released by the People’s Bank of China and reported in TechNode provide an insight into just how big the mobile payment market could be. Total mobile payments in China last year hit 9.64 trillion yuan – equivalent to $1.59 trillion.
Mobile transactions on just one of China’s mobile payment services reached 25,000 per minute. While China has a population of 1.3B, contrasted with around 317M in the USA, and many of those in China use a mobile device as their primary Internet connection, it still illustrates what a huge opportunity iPhone-based payments could represent for Apple.
It’s been suggested that Apple’s approach may be to allow payment to be made via iTunes accounts, effectively turning Apple into a bank – a prediction I made last September. Using iTunes as a payment method would mean that customers would not have to hand over card details to retail stores. In the light of recent large scale card compromises at Neiman Marcus (1.1M cards) and Target (2M cards), this may well prove a strong reason for iPhone owners to use the service.
Via TNW
Mobile payment Stories January 30, 2014
PayPal feels the threat from Apple’s mobile payment plans, says it ‘wants to help’
PayPal is clearly feeling the threat posed by Apple’s plans to use Touch ID to facilitate payment for physical goods from other retailers: re/code is reporting that the company has offered to help.
PayPal is essentially willing to white label parts of its payment service to be used in an Apple mobile payments system — anything from fraud detection to back-end infrastructure, even possibly down to the processing of payments.
“They’re telling them, ‘We’ll do it in the background,” one of these people said. “Basically, it’s just, ‘We want to be a part of this.’”
The plea is likely as desperate as it sounds, with two of the three payment industry execs re/code spoke to saying it’s unlikely Apple has any need of PayPal’s assistance. Apple has over 575 million iTunes accounts, most linked to credit cards, and already allows purchases from its own retail stores using the Apple Store app on iPhones. Apple also has patents in place for payment via both NFC and Bluetooth electronic wallet systems, so there doesn’t appear to be any part of the process the company couldn’t handle unaided.
PayPal’s relationship with Apple seems set to remain limited to that of a payment option for iTunes and online store purchases, and a reseller of iTunes gift cards.
Mobile payment Stories January 28, 2014
When Touch ID was first rumored, there had been much speculation about whether the iPhone 5s would act as an electronic wallet, with payments to retailers authorized by fingerprint. While that hasn’t yet happened, it does now seem clear that it’s on the way.
Asked about mobile payments during yesterday’s earnings call, CEO Tim Cook gave what is, in Apple terms, a surprisingly direct response.
The mobile payments area in general is one we’ve been intrigued with. It was one of the thoughts behind Touch ID […] it’s a big opportunity … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories January 16, 2014
Starbucks confirms that its iOS app stores passwords in plain text
Starbucks has confirmed a finding by security researcher Daniel Wood that both username and password in its iOS app are stored in plain text.
It’s not the big deal some are making it out to be – to make use of it, someone would need physical access to your unlocked iPhone, in which case you likely have bigger things to worry about than someone being able to order tall skinny lattes on your dime. Additionally, as Engadget observes, a far easier hack by someone with access to your phone would simply be to take a photo of the on-screen barcode used to authorise payments.
All the same, it is pretty poor design on the part of a payment app from a major company, and it’s surprising that Starbucks apparently has no plans to fix it with an updated app.
Mobile payment Stories September 17, 2013
Touch ID is far, far more important than most people have realised – the core message behind a Quora post by the CEO of a card payment service. We can expect to learn far more “in the next few months, and that’s likely to eventually include both Touch ID Macs and use of the fingerprint system for mobile payments.
In the torrent of the billions of words already written about Touch ID very, very few people have really understood just how revolutionary this really is. Apple not only has developed one of the most accurate mass produced biometric security devices, they have also solved critical problems with how the data from this device will be encrypted, stored and secured.
Brian Roemmele, CEO of 1st American Card Service, said that Apple’s attempt to solve the problem of how to develop a truly secure access system goes all the way back to a patent application in 2008, but it was only through the A7 chip – specifically created by ARM with mobile payment security in mind – that the company finally had a gold-standard solution. And its applications will go far beyond iPhone unlock and iTunes purchases … expand full story
Mobile payment Stories June 13, 2013
Square Wallet 3.0 just released: faster checkout than ever
Square has just released a redesigned version of their Square Wallet, their local directory and checkout app. By opening up the application (or setting the app to auto-check in when you’ve entered your favorite store), the cashier can see your name on the Square Register app and take your payment without having to swipe a credit card. Prior to the newest 3.0 version, users had to open the app, find the store they’re in, and press the “Pay Here” button. Now, the last step has been taken out. Just tapping on the store checks you in and puts you on the customer list. For Starbucks locations, tapping on the location pops up a very large QR code that can be scanned to pay.
The new design is very media-rich, with pictures from the merchants taking front stage. Rather than having a table view of the local vendors, it takes on a gallery design to show the logos and products. This is definitely a much-welcomed update.
Mobile payment Stories October 22, 2012
Google teases ‘next version’ of Google Wallet, gauges interest among iOS users
Google is teasing the next version of its Google Wallet service today as carriers team up to launch their own ISIS mobile wallet competitor. What happens when requesting an invite to the new Google Wallet is interesting… Google asks users to select what device they use: Android, iOS, and Other. 9to5Google has the full story.
