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Highlights
- Currently, merchants must use the payment terminals that plugin or communicate with the phone via Bluetooth to accept payment on the iPhone.
- Apple has also been working on a “buy now pay later” service.
- With the launch of the Apple Card in 2019 and Apple instalment plans on the credit card, the company has been accelerating its push in the payments segment in the past few years.
Apple Inc (AAPL) has announced a new service that will let small businesses accept payments directly on the phone without any third-party app.
The California-based company has been working on this new feature since 2020. It has paid about US$100 million to Canadian startup Mobeewave, which develops such technologies.
Apple will likely use its near field communications or NFC - a chip currently used for Apple Pay. Currently, merchants must use the payment terminals that plugin or communicate with the phone via Bluetooth, such as Block Inc’s Square, to accept payment on the iPhone.
Square Inc is one of the leading payment processors in the market.
The new feature will convert iPhone into a payment terminal, which would let users accept payments with one tap of the credit card or another iPhone onto the back of their device.
However, it’s still unclear whether the new payment option will be part of Apple Pay or an independent program, though the team has been working closely with Apple’s payment division from the start.
It’s also not known immediately whether Apple will partner with the existing payment network or launch it separately. Apple may launch this feature via its software update in the coming months. It is believed the company will release its first beta version of iOS 15.4 soon.
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Source: Pixabay
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Apple’s foray into payments segment
With the launch of the Apple Card for the US market in 2019 and the introduction of Apple instalment plans on the credit card, the company has been accelerating its push in the payments segment in the past few years. Apple has also been working on a “buy now pay later” service.
On January 6, 2022, Apple became the first tech giant to hit the US$3 trillion market valuation. Currently, Apple stocks are trading at US$159.69.
