Articles by "Apple Pay"

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Showing posts with label Apple Pay. Show all posts

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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I can be somewhat an impatient person; I want things done and I want them done yesterday. So when it comes to queuing, well,  let’s just say queues are really not my thing! 
Whilst Clerkenwell is admittedly the gastronomic hub of London it presents major challenges for media lovers and tech geeks. An apparently simple task such as finding a place to grab a hot meal to go is a ruddy nightmare.  Today, I had some tough deadlines and was of course bombarded with queues.  Getting rather ticked off, I decided to walk a bit out my way, partly to calm my nerves and see what the nearest supermarkets *Waitrose* can offer *other than the dreadful dry sandwiches served by others in the area*.
Browsing for the Waitrose hot food counter I came across a new food department with a sign of Waitrose testing new Payment systems – Apple Pay.
 






I have always been partial to food at Waitrose to be fair so I know what I was getting.  They might as well have called it a Waitrose NO NONSENSE Section. Using apple pay I was in and out in under 3mins with no need to go to the tills. 
This is not the first retailer to introduce this method; Apple Retail has being doing it for years and rather successfully.  Waitroses’ new payment initiative demonstrates that technology, when used correctly is vastly rewarding. So why aren’t more retailers looking into this? How many brands view technology as a hindrance rather than a solution for their customers who are starved of time (and occasionally food!)?  Are there that many people who sadistically secretly love queues?  Lots to ponder. Happy to take input from the wider readers…
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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.

Mobile Wallet Providers Fail
Mobile Wallet Providers Fail

Way back in 2001 Apple introduced iTunes, and followed this shortly afterwards with the release of the iPod. In the preceding years, there were a few personal music players but they had not captured a great slice of the public’s attention. In the years that followed, a flood of devices arrived on the market. Remember the Diamond Rio, or the Zune? As we know, within a few years Apple triumphed and then went on to completely transform the market for personal music devices.

Call me a cynic but the current mobile wallet market feels a little like those days when personal mp3 players were filling the shelves, but a clear winner was yet to emerge. Now, it seems a week doesn't pass without a story about some new development in the mobile wallets world. However, mobile wallets as a product category is yet to develop a solid foundation. Sure, isolated pockets of success can be found, but if recent surveys of ApplePay usage mobile wallet usage are an indicator, overall usage remains low. It doesn’t seem to me as if I’m missing out on anything, and I work in the payments industry.

So what does all this mean? Are we at the dawn of a mobile payments revolution, or are we merely witnessing a series of attempts by market participants to run live market experiments? In my opinion, the eventual winner will be the company that provides the best overall system that benefits all parties involved in the consumer payments value chain. That is consumers, merchants, banks and even the networks. A tall order, as we can even see Apple struggling for traction. 

I’ve always believed that iTunes provided the unifying force that underpinned Apple’s amazing run of device success from iPod to iPhone to iPad. With the exception of Starbucks' closed solution, I can’t think of another mobile wallet that provides anything like the right mix of utility and benefit to everyone in the payments value chain. Instead, we have a range of narrow technology-centric solutions all selfishly pleading for attention, but all somehow failing to answer that key question in the back of our minds, ”What’s in it for me?”

Stephen Peters
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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.
A Tale of Traveling Overseas With Apple Pay

A Tale of Traveling Overseas With Apple Pay

For those of us who use Apple Pay in the U.S. today we know it can be hit or miss as far as merchant acceptance and the overall user experience goes.   When Apple Pay first launched there were only 220,000 Near Field Communication (NFC) Point of Sale (POS) terminals in the U.S., which represented less than 2% of all U.S. payment devices.  Since then companies like USA Technologies announced plans to add 200,000 vending machines and parking meters to list of payment terminals accepting NFC.   Its also being reported that the majority of new POS terminals shipped in the U.S. are shipped NFC capable, and that by 2019 over 75% of POS terminals in the U.S. could accept NFC.

Acknowledging that the U.S. NFC market is still maturing, I really wanted to try out Apple Pay in a country where NFC acceptance has matured.   Would the user experience be more consistent than in the U.S., and would you see more ubiquitous acceptance of Apple Pay for your most common everyday purchases? A recent trip back home to Australia to visit family and friends helped provide me some insights.

The Australian marketplace is very different to the hyper-competitive U.S. marketplace. Ironically, the 4 big Australian banks (NAB, ANZ, Westpac, and Commonwealth Bank) which control over 90% of Australian bank accounts are stalling Apple’s launch of Apple Pay in the U.S. over the projected A$2B in additional fees the service would cost them. These Australian banks have already invested heavily in issuing their customers Visa PayWave and MasterCard PayPass contactless credit and debit cards as a standard. The “big 4” also control most of the merchant acceptance business in Australia, so they are better position to ensure ubiquitous acceptance of NFC payments across Australian retailers.

And while Australia mandated a move to chip-and-PIN for all Australian issued credit and debit cards last year, this only applies to purchases exceeding A$100. Australian supermarkets are reporting that over 70% of their transactions are contactless requiring no PIN which speeds up the checkout process for the retailer and the customer.

Although Apple Pay hasn’t launched in Australia, I did have a lot of success using Apple Pay across a wide array of Australian retailers. Most retailers I visited accepted a contactless NFC payment, and the user experience was more consistence since the POS hardware was pretty much the same at all retailers. I did notice a few confused looks as I waved my iPhone at the POS terminal in lieu of a contactless card, especially at self-checkout lanes.

My experience proved to me that the issue Apple Pay and other NFC-based payment platforms face in the U.S. really stems from a lack of consistent retailer acceptance of contactless payments. If the projections for U.S. NFC acceptance are accurate, then Apple Pay and other NFC platforms have a bright future ahead.
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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.

A cheaper, easier, better alternative to Apple Pay?

The last thing Londoners needed was a way of contacting less, but the rollout of Apple Pay in the UK this week has seen news outlets and consumers celebrate the second coming of contactless payment as if we’ve just discovered fire.

The euphoria that gripped a usually placid Oxford Street audience yesterday evening when a man bought a pack of chewing gum with his phone gives you an idea of how wearables and new technology still inspire ‘ahhh’s’ and ‘oooh’s’ as if we’ve suddenly all turned into the green aliens from Toy Story.

You forget how long contactless cards have been around . They’ve been around in the UK since 2008 and as of May 2013, there were already 32.5 million contactless cards in circulation.

While Apple Pay is the shiny new play thing in the toy box, Barclays have been piggybacking onto the wearbles trend with their new contactless payment option, and it’s one I’ve been using since the turn of the year.

The bPay band has recently been released as a consumer product, offering a contactless solution in a wristband, keyring fob or sticker for your phone. It works like a PAYG phone, allowing you to top up your respective device via the website or mobile app.

Using the wristband to pay for everything from beer, bus journeys, fast food and clothes has generated some interesting responses. Everything from the confused cashier wondering if I was using a clever piece of tech to hack the card machine, to those who gaze in sheer wonder and are happy to hold up queue lines to find out exactly what is on my wrist.

Some of my friends remarked they had no idea I was into fitness, thinking the band was some kind of activity tracker. Fairly offensive stuff.

There were a couple of times when the band, for one reason or another, didn’t work. This was embarrassing, you could practically hear the thoughts of conservative shoppers behind me which went something like ‘just use your card you smug little timewaster’.

For now, the retail version of bPay has been event-free, providing a simple alternative to my old-fashioned wallet. I don’t have to get anything out of my pocket, it won’t run out of battery, I won’t be using it to do something else on it when I need to pay and if I lose it, it’s not the end of the world.

Forrester has predicted that 80-90% of wearables will fail and while certain devices are sorry attempts by tech giants to ride the wearable wave, the bPay band has the simplicity and potential use to suggest it won’t fall away anytime soon.
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iTech Dunya is a technology blog that specializes in tech-related topics.Our GOAL is to produce high-quality content for our millions of readers.

Apple Pay launch an example of competitive edge with early adoption.
Apple Pay launch an example of competitive edge with early adoption.

The list of technologies businesses have adapted to has been huge over the last 10 years. One key motivator for a business to implement tech and web based changes is to keep up with their competitors and influencers.

But what if you could get a competitive advantage by adopting new technology early?


I read about a striking example this week. Apple Pay, the Apple mobile contact less card less payment system has just launched in the UK.

Twitter was awash with users who were enjoying using the system, which allows you to pay for things in much the same way as using a contact-less debit or credit card, except using your Apple mobile device instead of reaching inside your wallet. This technology could become the norm over the next few years, because quite simply, its convenient.

But while twitter was full of people using the hashtag #ApplePay, not all of them were happy! Here are a few snippets,

@HSBC_UK So I can’t use #ApplePay because you’re not ready? #fail
@TSB Sort Apple Pay out I hate being left out! I’ll go to Natwest! #ApplePay
So consumers were angry that their banks in particular hadn’t got organised and adopted this new technology. The consequences were clear, people were considering moving providers rather than wait a few months.

What’s the message here?


Well, the fact that so many people were tweeting about good experiences with Apple Pay isn’t a surprise. Adopting technology early can be great for your business.


  • Adopting technology that makes your customers lives easier improves customer retention
  • Adopting technology that delights your customers and target customers means they’ll share positive stories on social media
  • Adopting the right technology early makes it easier for customers to find you and removes barriers for them to become customers
What about failing to adopt technology early/on time!


  • Failing to adopt technology can reduce your visibility to clients (responsive sites and Google are a great example of this)
  • Failure to adopt technology means your customers and prospects have an incentive to check your competitors
  • Failing to have the technology in place that your market expects is a surefire way to generate negative PR. Do you want to be dealing with the type of response HSBC had to deal with over Apple Pay?

What to do about it?


Where are you now?
 Are you using the right technologies? Are you ahead or behind in your marketplace? Ask these questions first. Get experts to check the status of your web and other digital technologies and you’ll see where there are areas you can improve.
Mark Robertson
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