Apple’s new payments service Apple Pay could be a big game-changer.
Apple Pay will be available in the US beginning October 20 with all Apple devices that feature fingerprint scan using the Touch ID.
For shopping in stores, Apple Pay will work with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and with Apple Watch. For online shopping within apps, Apple Pay will be available on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.
Using Apple Pay in stores is promised to be fast and easy. One simply has to hold iPhone near the contactless reader while keeping a finger on Touch ID.
The new service will be enabled on October 20 with the free iOS 8.1 update.
Apple Pay is designed to protect the user's personal information. It doesn't collect any transaction information that can be tied back to a user and payment transactions are between the user, the merchant and the user's bank.
According to Apple, it won't collect the users' purchase history. So when we are shopping in a store or restaurant, Apple won't know what we bought, where we bought it, or how much was paid for it.
Actual card numbers will not be stored on the device. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is created, encrypted and stored in the Secure Element of the device. The Device Account Number in the Secure Element is walled off from iOS and not backed up to iCloud.
"Our team has worked incredibly hard to make Apple Pay private and secure, with the simplicity of a single touch of your finger," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice-president of Internet Software and Services. "The reaction to Apple Pay has been amazing. We continue to add more Apple Pay ready banks, credit card companies and merchants, and think our users will love paying with Apple Pay."
In the US, Apple Pay already supports credit and debit cards from all the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, issued by the top US banks. In addition to American Express, Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and others, who announced support in September, more than 500 new banks from across the country have signed on to Apple Pay.
Users can make purchases in stores and within apps, with credit cards issued by many of the leading banks, which make up 83 per cent of the credit card purchase volume in the US.
Leading payment solution providers and terminal suppliers are working to bring merchants in stores and in apps the ability to easily, securely and privately accept payments using Apple Pay.
Checkout is simple and can be done with a single touch—there's no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information, says Apple. Your actual card number too is kept private and not shared with the online merchant.
Online shopping within apps allows users to pay for physical goods and services, including apparel, electronics, health and beauty products, tickets and more. Apps with the ability to use Apple Pay at launch include: Apple Store app, Chairish, Fancy, Groupon, HotelTonight, Houzz, Instacart, Lyft, OpenTable, Panera Bread, Spring, Staples, Target and Uber.
Apple has claimed that many more will support Apple Pay by the end of this year with popular apps such as Airbnb, Disney Store, Eventbrite, JackThreads, Levi's Stadium by VenueNext, Sephora, Starbucks, StubHub, Ticketmaster and Tickets.com, among others.
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