How Samsung Plans To Compete Against Apple In Mobile Payment

Read original story on: TechCrunch

Look out, Apple Pay! Samsung is entering mobile payment with its acquisition of payment startup of LoopPay. Samsung has stated it will work toward building LoopPay’s technology into future devices, and stressed that a “holistic mobile wallet” based LoopPay’s unique magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology would enjoy wider converge than most mobile payment systems that employ NFC tech, including Apple Pay.

Regardless of Samsung’s self-proclaimed superiority, Apple Pay has already got a great head start, recently entering new territories like vending machines, in-flight purchases, and government agencies. Samsung has a lot catching-up to do if it is serious about competing with the Cupertino rival in mobile payment.

What’s Next For Apple

Read original story on: The Verge

Coming off its record-breaking fiscal quarter thanks to massive holiday sales and huge growth in China, Apple is gearing up for its upcoming Apple Watch release. According to CEO Tim Cook, Apple’s much-anticipated smartwatch will start shipping in April. He also commented that Apple is encouraged by the positive response from developers so far.

Besides prepping for the launch of Apple Watch, the Cupertino company is also continuing to push Apple Pay into new territories. Over 200,000 vending machines, kiosks, paid parking, and other self-serve locations nationwide will soon start supporting Apple’s mobile payment system, which marks yet another step in its steady expansion in market coverage.

 

Best Of The Lab 2014: Mobile Payment Has Arrived

With the arrival of Apple Pay, 2014 is without doubt a watershed year for mobile payment. Boosting convenience and security, it is set to transform the very way we buy things in coming years. You can reacquaint yourself with everything you need to know about Apple Pay, before diving into our in-depth mobile payment POV to learn more about the future of payment and commerce.

6 Things You Need To Know About The New “Apple Pay”

Paying with Your Phone: The Present & Future of Mobile Payment

Apple Pay Updates: 1 Million Credit Cards Activated

Read original story on: ReadWrite

On Monday, at a technology conference organized by the Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple had activated 1 million credit cards in the first 72 hours after Apple Pay launched, calling it “already a huge hit.”

That sounds impressive—until you consider that there are more than 600 million credit and debit cards in the United States, and Apple has sold an estimated 20 million Apple Pay-compatible iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units. Also considering that many users might link multiple cards, it’s difficult to come up with a clean figure for Apple Pay’s market share among eligible iPhone 6 users.

 

Why Apple Pay Is Now Blocked At CVS

Read original story on: LA Times

Initially supporting, Rite Aid and CVS Pharmacy abruptly pulled support for Apple Pay after a week of smooth operation. According to various sources, the odd move is most likely a result of the retailers’ involvement with the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium. The consortium is currently building CurrentC, a rival system to the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that Apple Pay deploys. Will Apple be influential enough to make CVS and Rite Aid switch side again? Only time will tell.

Update: Apple has reportedly blocked Apple Pay for CurrentC in response. Round 1 is officially on.

Update #2: MCX surrenders as CEO Dekkers Davidson says that the CurrentC exclusivity deal that blocks Apple Pay will expire within “months, not years“, giving its members an easy way out.

Paying with Your Phone: The Present & Future of Mobile Payment

Download and read this POV here

With the introduction of Apple Pay, mobile payment is poised to hit the mainstream. The general public feels optimistic about its future, too. Survey reveals that over two-thirds of people believed that it’s likely that mobile payments will become a major way people make payments in stores in the next five years.

But look around. Hardly anyone you know is paying with their smartphones. Why?

Find out the reasons and more about mobile payment by downloading our newest POV here.

 

Apple Pay Update: Banks Are Racing To Be The Default Card

Read original story on: The Verge

With Apple Pay officially going public yesterday, banks and credit card companies are now in a tight race to be the first ones you load onto your iPhone. For one thing, banks are keen to have their customers use a digital wallet over a credit card because it could save them the considerable cost of making, distributing, and replacing plastic cards.

More importantly, Apple Pay can work with multiple credit and debit cards loaded into Passbook. But most of the time people will probably be relying on the default card, avoiding the hassle of unlocking the phone and tapping around in Passbook. It’s no wonder banks are competing eagerly for prime real estate on Apple Pay.

 

 

What To Expect From Tomorrow’s Apple Event

By now, you probably know about Apple’s live event tomorrow. But after September’s double punch of the Apple Watch and iPhone 6 (and Plus), how will the Cupertino company attempt to wow audiences this time?

Loads of Hardware Updates

The focus of tomorrow’s Apple event is widely speculated to be hardware updates: from new iPads to an updated Mac Mini, everything seems ripe for an annual update just in time for the holiday season. Still, the suspense remains on just how “drastic” the updates will be. For instance, everybody knows that the new iPads are going to be thinner, lighter and faster—but will they come with NFC and Touch ID to make it Apple Pay-ready?

Public Release of Yosemite And Apple Pay

The much-anticipated public release for OS Yosemite and Apple Pay is all-but-confirmed at this point. The scope of Apple Pay’s roll-out, though, will be one interesting thing that we will hopefully find out.

Possible Update of Apple HomeKit

Finally, rumor has it that Apple will update its long-ignored HomeKit by integrating Siri and turning Apple TV into a central hub for smart home appliances. Though least likely to happen, this update would no doubt fit with the “it’s been way too long” tagline on Apple’s event invite.

As usual, we’ll be live-tweeting the event. Check back with us tomorrow to find out what Apple is up to this time.

Square Attempts To Fend Off Apple Pay With New App Cash

In its latest attempts to fend off the forthcoming Apple Pay, Square introduced a new Cash App that allows people to text or email money without setting up a Square account. The recipient doesn’t need the app to get a notification, although they do need to submit their banking information for the transfer to work. Overall, it appears to be more user-friendly than other payment apps like PayPal or Venmo, but it seems doubtful that it will prevent Apply Pay from taking over the mobile payment market.