Apple Offers iPhone NFC Chip Access to Apple Pay Rivals in EU
Apple Offers iPhone NFC Chip Access to Apple Pay Rivals in EU
Apple has offered to open up the iPhone near-field communication (NFC) system that Apple Pay uses to other payment services, in a possible effort to...
This reeks of bringing people to the well after it's already dried up. The established convenience of Apple Pay is unlikely to take much of a hit from would-be competitors.
I do hope, though, that it spurs Apple to innovate a bit more, particularly w.r.t loyalty and rewards schemes and the likes.
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I agree, but at least it is now possible to compete with Apple Pay. The position of Apple and Google Pay is too strong if competition is unthinkable.
Apple was smart to partner with the banks and acting as a proxy initially. The next step could bypass Visa, MasterCard, banks, payment processors, ...
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Apple Pay charges much higher rates than competing payment processors.
Apple Pay isn't a payment processor. It's a system for banks to provisional additional cards on their customer's devices, which are then processed the same way and for the same fees as tapping the physical card.
Banks want direct access to the NFC because they want to bully people into making their app the default handler for payment cards. One of the great things about Apple Pay is that all banks must compete as equals for every transaction. It's trivially easy to switch which card you use when you pay and every card gets the same best user experience.
Forcing NFC open is, paradoxically, anti-competitive, because it makes it easier for the biggest banks to stop competing and instead lock their customers in.
High time
What competitors? I'd love an Apple Pay/Google Wallet alternative but nothing exists.