Apple Pay

Apple has invested a lot into its Apple Pay mobile payments solution since its launch last fall. Since launching in October, the payment method is already accepted at more than 700,000 retail locations, according to the company. Reuters today has published a new report in which Apple says that Apple Pay will be accepted by half of the top 100 merchants in the United States by the end of this year, with more planned in 2016. Currently, a fourth of the top 100 retailers support Apple Pay.

According to a retailer that Reuters contacted, Apple has been pushing its mobile payment service aggressively to retailers. The retailer, which remained anonymous and has no plans to accept Apple Pay, said this:

“They have been pushing hard and it’s been that way for months. They have called and tried to persuade us even after we communicated our decision to them.”

That same retailer has no plans to accept Apple Pay because not even a “small percentage” of its customers have requested it. Nevertheless, the research found that retailers accepting Apple Pay are generally happy with the service, and its customers are too…

Expand
Expanding
Close

With Apple steadily rolling out its mobile payment service across the United States, support for Apple Pay has now gone live from these new banks and credit unions:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google just wrapped up the opening keynote for its I/O developer conference taking place this week, and not surprisingly many of the announced products and services are direct competitors to Apple’s. Android Pay gets an official coming out party to compete with Apple Pay, Project Brillo is Google’s answer to HomeKit, and the new Android M gets a focus on quality, much like what Apple has in store for iOS 9 at WWDC in June. The company also announced a new Photos app with unlimited photo and video syncing and iOS support, as well as a number of other iOS app announcements.

Head below for a roundup of everything Google announced today from 9to5Google:
Expand
Expanding
Close

According to a new report from The New York Times, Apple will, as expected, announce new details and enhancements for Apple Pay at WWDC next month. The report, citing two people briefed on the product, claims that Apple plans to add a rewards program to Apple Pay.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Some of iOS 9‘s more important planned enhancements include split-screen apps on iPads, a new Home app for controlling HomeKit accessories, a new system-wide UI font, a mass transit directions service for the Maps app, and major quality, performance, and security enhancements. However, multiple sources note that there will also be some smaller, but still important, tweaks to the operating system. We spotlight some of these expected changes below…

Expand
Expanding
Close

During his trip last week across China, Apple CEO Tim Cook held a meeting at Apple’s China headquarters with several employees in attendance, according to sources with knowledge of the briefing. Cook reportedly reiterated several recent China-focused announcements, including the new forest-focused environmental initiatives and improvements for education, but he also mentioned some new tidbits regarding the upcoming retail launch for the Apple Watch and the rollout of Apple Pay for China…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay on <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/18/apple-watch-review-video/" target="_blank">Apple Watch</a>

A number of additional banks and credit unions across the United States have now turned on support for Apple Pay including Synchrony Bank which backs Walmart and other retail credit cards, NASA Federal Credit Union, and many more. Earlier this month, Apple Pay went live for the popular mobile-based Simple Bank for the first time. You can find the full list of new and existing banks with support for Apple’s mobile payment service below:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Last month, Apple added 10 new retailers to its Apple Pay website, which brought the total to 68 merchants and more than 700,000 payment terminals. Now, it appears that popular grocery chain Trader Joe’s is preparing to accept Apple Pay in its more than 400 retail locations.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Starbucks has confirmed multiple reports of users of its smartphone app having three-figure sums stolen from their accounts in the form of gift certificates, reports CNN.

One user lost $550 in a matter of minutes, his account auto-reloaded each time it was emptied by a hacker sending a series of $50 gift cards. Other users have also reported three-figure losses within a matter of seconds or minutes … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Tim Cook, who is in China this week to discuss Apple’s new environmental initiatives, spoke to Chinese media regarding his plans to further expand Apple services in the country. Speaking to news outlet Xinhua, Cook discussed a variety of topics, including his hope to launch Apple Pay in China and get a smartphone in the hand of every resident.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple Pay continues its rollout across the US with a stop in Las Vegas. The Cosmopolitan resort has announced that Apple Pay will be accepted at the hotels’ front desk, restaurants and bars by early June. Room service can also be streamlined using Apple Pay, as the concierge service will also accept Apple Pay as a payment method. This means that you can pay with your iPhone or even your Apple Watch.

It’s unclear if you will be able to gamble directly with Apple Pay — most casinos limit chips purchasing to cash only transactions. Or if credit cards are accepted, the payments are marked as cash advances so there are no ways to turn quick money. It is not known if the establishment can or will support this kind of transaction through Apple Pay.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple has rolled out Apple Pay support for another 24 banks and credit unions following last month’s expansion reaching more than 200 in total. The newly added banks include more than a dozen banks and credit unions from around the United States including The Bancorp Bank which backs Simple, a popular online banking service. Here’s the full list of newly added Apple Pay banks:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Update: Home Depot says it plans to accept Apple Pay in the near future.

Home Depot appears to have quietly stopped accepting Apple Pay. Although never officially named as a partner, the company has supported contactless payment and Apple Pay used to work in at least some of its stores. An Apple support document updated last week lists Home Depot as one of the stores that “might not currently be set up” to accept Apple Pay.

The change appears to be related to Home Depot’s deal to accept PayPal as a payment method both in store and online … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

MCX, the merchant consortium behind the Apple Pay competitor known as CurrentC, has announced today that CEO Dekkers Davidson is being replaced by Brian Mooney. MCX has given Mooney the title of interim CEO, which makes it unclear as to whether the consortium is actively looking for another CEO to replace Dekkers Davidson or if Mooney is the permanent choice.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced today during the company’s earnings call that Best Buy will gain support for Apple Pay in its iOS app today and will begin accepting it in retail stores later this year. Best Buy’s decision is big news because the electronics chain was previously part of the coalition of companies working on the ill-received “Current-C” mobile payment system.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Discover announced today that it’s made a deal with Apple to join the other three big card companies already offering support for the company’s new payments service, Apple Pay. That means that starting this fall, Discover cardholders will finally be able to add their cards to the service and make contactless, NFC-based payments using iPhone and Apple Watch, as well as make payments within apps supporting the platform on all iOS devices.
Expand
Expanding
Close