Apple Pay copies PayPal
Apple (NASDAQ: AMZN) is trying to increase Apple Pay’s popularity by taking a page out of PayPal’s book. On Tuesday, September 13, 2016, Apple updated operating systems that Apple Pay users can pay on websites.
Around 200,000 websites now support Apple Pay, Computerworld reported. To use the service consumers will have to find the Apple Pay button on a website.
Mac desktop and laptop users will have to authenticate all purchases with a finger print scan on an iPhone or a double touch on a Mac Watch. That means Mac users with an Android phone will be out of luck.
Users will also have to do their shopping in Apple’s Safari browser. Computerworld reported that the next Mac Operating System, Sierra, will allow customers to pay with Apple Pay without a finger print scan as long as they log in through an iCloud account. Since, Sierra is not yet available, it looks as if Mac users might have to buy an iPhone to go shopping online.
Or they can just use PayPal; which does not require a fingerprint, or their credit card. One has to wonder why anybody would bother with this solution.
Another major drawback is that many major websites including the biggest name in US online retail; Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) still don’t take Apple Pay. Also refusing to take Apple Pay is the second largest online general merchandise retailer in the United States: Walmart.com. Since both Walmart and Amazon are pushing their own payment solutions it is unlikely that either of them will get on the Apple Pay bandwagon anytime soon.
Venmo Meet Siri
It looks as if Apple Pay is not a serious threat to PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL). Instead, PayPal is actually expanding to Apple, its Venmo money transfer app is now integrated with iOS 10.
That means Venmo users can send money using Siri and iMessage, Venmo’s blog claimed. A Venmo user can even say hey Siri send Joe $30 and it will happen.
It looks as if PayPal and not Apple might be the future of online and social media payment. Apple Pay seems doomed to remain a niche product. One has to wonder if this means that PayPal might soon support Apple Pay.
Apple Pay Coming to Japan, Russia and New Zealand
Apple plans to roll Apple Pay out in Japan, Russia and New Zealand this fall. Fortune reported that Apple Pay will arrive in Japan in October.
A major use for Apple Pay in Japan will be to pay for bus and train fare. Many train stations and buses in Japan are equipped with readers support Apple Pay. An interesting development in Japan will be that many iPhone users will be able to store a digital version of their transit passes on their phones.
No date for the rollout in Russia has been announced, but Apple Pay is supposed to be available in New Zealand sometime in October. It looks as if there might be a bigger market for Apple Pay outside the US than in its home country.
