Yesterday we reported that Apple could be bringing NFC technology to the iPhone 6 that has been present and active in Android for years. We also speculated that part of Apple’s plan for NFC is mobile payments. Now Bloomberg Businessweek is reporting that Apple is working with three major credit card carriers (VISA, AMEX and MasterCard) on some sort of iPhone payment system. Apple Wallet perhaps?
As we’ve stated before, NFC and mobile payments are nothing new. Google’s been doing it for years. But it’s not been widely adopted by users or retailers. Past market trends have proven that when Apple gets into a space, markets generally follow and adopt what Apple is doing (though Apple has had its share of flops). We may love it or hate it, but it is how it’s been for some years.
While companies such as Google Inc. have invested in creating ways for phones to make payments in a physical store, U.S. retailers have been slow to adopt the technology, thus limiting the use by shoppers, according to Ben Bajarin, an analyst for Creative Strategies LLC in San Jose, California. That could change with Apple entering the market because iPhones have the largest market share in the U.S., he said.
On the upside, all “we did it first” arguments aside, competition is good and perhaps we can work towards a standard for the mobile payment industry. Apple might be working with the big three (VISA, AMEX and MasterCard) but they’ll also have to convince retailers that this will work. With so many data breaches as of late and privacy high on the minds of consumers, it will be a challenge even for Apple to make the case. There are a lot of variables to work out across a large infrastructure where a lot of hands are present. What do you think? If Apple moves into mobile payments will they succeed? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
[button link=”http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-08-31/apple-said-to-team-with-visa-mastercard-on-iphone-wallet” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Bloomberg Businessweek[/button]Featured image courtesy uncrate.com.
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
Comments are closed.