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PayPal reportedly planning to integrate iOS 8’s Touch ID API in mobile payment app

Screenshot 2014-06-02 14.34.56

When Apple unveiled the Touch ID API during its WWDC keynote earlier this week, users and developers alike immediately started considering possible uses. It seems PayPal was also quite interested in putting the fingerprint technology to work in its mobile app.

According to Business Insider, several PayPal developers attended a WWDC session on the new API and the company is actively considering its implementation. The idea here is likely to get a head-start on Apple, which is currently said to be working on its own mobile payment service in conjunction with several major payment processors.

When we’ll see PayPal’s Touch ID update is unknown. The iOS 8 software that’s currently in beta will need to become publicly available first, but unless Apple plans on announcing a payment service alongside the next-generation iPhone this fall, PayPal could be first major company to launch Touch ID-powered mobile payments.

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Comments

  1. Lance Newcomb - 10 years ago

    Doesn’t matter. I will never let those thieves handle my money again.

    • Jassi Sikand - 10 years ago

      Thieves? Are you referring to the eBay hack? B/c PayPal didn’t get hacked and if not, then PayPal is the highest rated money service for a reason. Your experience is an exception

      • His experience is NO exception. PayPal has been stealing their users’ money since they began. 13 years ago they locked one of my accounts with $170 in it. 13 years later it’s still locked and they refuse to even reply to correspondence. Why did they lock my account? Apparently because I logged into my account while I was visiting Australia. PayPal is corrupt and trusting your money to them proves you a complete fool.

      • Jassi Sikand - 10 years ago

        That’s still an exception. I agree that exceptions happen. Accidents happen as well. How can you prove you are yourself? That’s not meant to be an accusation, but a genuine question. Banks have that problem as well except banks can ask for ID that you can present at a physical location while PayPal can’t. PayPal places security over user experience. If $170 is important to you (and it would be to me), I’d try to call them up instead of emailing this (admittedly, you may have already tried this), or if you can’t contact them, sue them in small-claims court. Neither you nor they can use an actual attorney or one that has received law training, and small-claims court fees, from what I gather, are quite small.

      • Sorry but no, it’s no small exception as you make it out to be at all. A simple google search would reveal something of the size of the problems.

        I just did and found this nice fresh link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=448847.0

        Sounds like you have some kind of a connection to PayPal.

      • Jassi Sikand - 10 years ago

        I don’t have a connection to them – I just see them highly rated by everyone. That being said, you’re right – it’s not a small problem (it was back when I heard about it, but apparently I am wrong) , but it is one that comes with all financial institutions. I suggest you go to http://www.ebay.com/gds/Has-Your-PayPal-Account-Been-Limited-How-to-unlock-/10000000011294936/g.html , though I assume it’s already been seen.

        The only solution that I’ve seen for it is to not go via email. As soon as you get the email, call PayPal’s number up. A representative on the line is much more willing to help you than one via email. Usually what happens with email responses is that multiple people are ‘helping’ you, whereas on the phone, only 1 person is. Also, after 180 days, PayPal will release the funds via check to the name registered to the account regardless. They are also legally required to tell you the reason why the account has been locked so you can tailor your response there. As I mentioned previously, if none of the above works, go to small-claims court. Neither you nor they can use an attorney, nor can they use a person that has a law degree, and small claims fees are not large from what I understand.

        The reasons that banks don’t get nearly as much rap about this as PayPal does is because it’s much easier – literally, since there are physical locations to go to – to prove your identity than via fax or email.

      • Lance Newcomb - 10 years ago

        They are crooks. They lock accounts for very minor reasons, refund money to dishonest buyers, have almost no recourse for sellers to get money back, they take very high fees for being a middleman and they double dip fees when used with eBay.

  2. chrisw52 - 10 years ago

    Reblogged this on conedogers and commented:
    I am not sure how I feel about this. I guess it depends on how reliable the new scanner is. How easy is this new fingerprint scanner to hack? If nothing has changed from the iPhone 5 fingerprint scanner, then this is just a huge security risk and I won’t use it.

    It’s clear that this technology is approaching fast and our financial systems are woefully underprepared for this tech.

    • Jassi Sikand - 10 years ago

      The iPhone 5 does not have Touch ID, but I assume you meant the 5s. Touch ID is not easy to hack. It is hackable, but even those that managed to do it took an extremely long time to do so, and even then, they would have to steal the phone. It’s not like in the movies where it can be done in 5 minutes and you don’t even know. The way this implantation is going to work is that the app asks Touch ID to verify your identity. Touch ID asks for fingerprint. If it matches, Touch ID responds with yes and the app continues – the app does not gain access to the fingerprint nor does Apple or any other company.

      • chrisw52 - 10 years ago

        you are correct, I do mean the IPhone 5S, not the IPhone 5.

        That fingerprint hack is actually fairly easy, but it does require physical access to the device. Time will tell if Apples new security features built into the scanner will improve security.
        Will I use the feature? probably not given my recent job history working with software security firms.

      • Jassi Sikand - 10 years ago

        I didn’t mean that the hack’s not doable – it is, but it requites physical access for not an insignificant amount of time, and the equipment is not cheap nor is it readily accessible. By that time, you can lock, track, and erase the device so that any information is destroyed. So yes, if someone really wanted to hack Touch ID, they could, but they’d have an easier time hacking a 4 digit password (I think Apple mentioned that half of iPhone users don’t have a password, and those that do more than often use the 4 digit one) so yeah. Will I use the feature? Yes, with other apps. With PayPal? We’ll see.

  3. Pierre Calixte - 10 years ago

    This is going to be big in making mobile payments easy and convenient.