B.yond Payment Solutions
October 8, 2019
Could Payments Be Made With A Voice Soon?
October 22, 2019
There will be a time when we no longer need to have our pockets overloaded with things. A wallet, keys, a phone, change, receipts and who knows what else clutters out pockets. That time may be here, at least partly.
The Apple Card
This past spring Apple announced that it was going to create the Apple Card. Of course Apple is already involved in the payment world with its popular ApplePay so this is the next logical step. The Apple Card can be both a physical card or a virtual card operated from an iPhone.
This is a huge step, even a bold step and no other mobile payment giant has hinted that it has plans to follow suit. It is a card that will be stored in a wallet on an iPhone that will work with ApplePay or their online store and if a merchant does not have ApplePay a physical card will be given to the user and will work wherever MasterCard is accepted. The card will be made out of titanium with a user’s name etched into it, which should all but eliminate the ability to counterfeit it.
Improved Security
Apple intends to remove many of the things that people do not like about credit cards, particularly fees and interest. The card will be released this summer but will only be released to well-qualified customers so chances are most merchants will not see many of them. What separates this is that when a customer is approved they would be able to use the card within minutes of being approved.
Apple Going At It Alone
There are some skeptics of course and the fact that other mobile payment giants have not indicated that they will follow suit is cause for concern. Its usage seems to be no different than a virtual wallet, though this could be viewed as a positive. It is a credit card in a world full of other credit cards but like the Discover card it seems to be only available to an exclusive audience. The only difference from other mobile payment options is that there is an option that will work when a merchant does not use that particular option.
Apple is advertising this as something that will help a user keep track of their spending and can pinpoint where each charge took place. Each purchase will receive cash back immediately. The security of ApplePay is built into this card and each user gets a unique device number that is generated by the iPhone. Purchases are authorized with either Face ID or Touch ID. The physical card itself does not have a number on it or any other information besides your name.
As a merchant you may not see one of these Apple Cards for a long time, they were just released to the public in August to a selected few. There is a lot to like about this and as mobile payment options get more advanced this could be the future of the credit card. So just in case a customer hands you a credit card with the Apple logo and only their name on it don’t freak out. It’s just an Apple Card. Or they could just make it simple and use their iPhone instead.
