Apple is planning to introduce a new service that will let small businesses accept contactless payments directly via iPhone without the need for any extra hardware or apps, according to Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move \u2013 which is expected to roll out in \u2018the coming months\u2019 \u2013 will essentially turn the iPhone into a payment terminal. This would allow customers to pay for services or products simply by tapping their iPhone or debit card on the back of a retailer\u2019s iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new service will particularly benefit SMEs and mobile businesses such as independent retailers, mobile hairdressers and other on-the-move services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, small businesses have to employ external payment terminals in order accept payments on an iPhone \u2013 such as Block Inc\u2019s small white \u2018Square\u2019 device \u2013 which the customer taps their phone or card against in order to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tech giant has been developing the new feature since it paid $100 million for Canadian start-up Mobeewave, back in 2020. Mobeewave specialised in developing technology for smartphones to accept payments with the tap of a credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new payment system is expected to use the iPhone\u2019s near field communications (NFC) chip which currently powers Apple Pay, although it is unclear whether it will be branded separately.
If Apple\u2019s latest move does require merchants to use Apple Pay to accept payments then it is likely to impact iPhone payments providers such as Block Inc.\u2019s Square, which currently dominates the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe timing of this news is key and underlines the anticipated growth of alternative payments,\u201d commented CEO of MultiPay Global Solutions, David Maisey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf Apple does enter the market, then it will be more good news for merchants and retailers as it gives them more choice and control of the payment systems they use. A solution running on an Apple device will also likely be quite low cost \u2013 at least initially \u2013 as there will be no upfront expense for hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maisey also believes the new plans could also help with the ongoing challenge of changing consumer behaviours, which is \u201cnever a quick or easy process\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cApple entering this space could speed up a change in appetite for alternative payments and help create more opportunities for all the exciting alternative payment solutions that are set to launch this year.\u201d
Charged<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Apple is planning to introduce a new service that will let small businesses accept contactless payments directly via iPhone without the need for any extra hardware or apps, according to Bloomberg News. The move \u2013 which is expected to roll out in \u2018the coming months\u2019 \u2013 will essentially turn the iPhone into a payment terminal. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42816,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42814\/revisions\/42816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}