
Apple’s iPhone Offers the Ideal Micropayments Platform - ciscoriordan
http://gigaom.com/2008/11/12/apples-iphone-offers-the-ideal-micropayments-platform/
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maxwell
This is just the tip of the iceberg.

As Apple evolved their music player into a phone and their music store into a
media/software store, they have an astronomical opportunity to adapt iTunes
into a generalized payment platform for real world goods.

You could buy stuff on the spot with your iPhone/iTouch or browse and pay
ahead of time and pick it up later. Brick and mortar shops would be quick to
support "iPay" to bring in the iPhone clientele (for the same reason they
currently accept credit cards), and the timing is right: Apple could kick the
banks/credit card companies in the nuts when they're down (look at AmEx...),
charging a lower rate and alleviating some of the hassles of synchronous
transactions. All a shop would need is the computer they already own and some
merchant software.

Why would they beat PayPal or Amazon Payments (TextPayMe)? Because those guys
just provide an abstraction above a bank account or credit card. With iTunes,
you pay upfront, in cash, at the gas station down the street. No bills. It's
not like this would apply to all purchases, obviously, but certainly stuff
<$100... And Apple has a popular UI that really doesn't have to be constrained
to music, movies, and software. Just because I can't download a pizza on
iTunes doesn't mean I couldn't select and purchase one.

Now, given regulatory issues they'd almost certainly have to partner with an
established player (like their deal with AT&T), but, again, they've got a
golden opportunity with the state of banks right now.

Am I missing some obvious reason this wouldn't work? This seems to me right
now about as likely as the iPhone did in 2006...

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narendra
I'd love to hear what some developers think. Applications that would benefit,
etc.

~~~
ciscoriordan
Tipjoy...

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shimi
I probably missed something, but why Apple are in front in that respect?

Google are the web masters, I imagine they could provide a funky solution!

One more things: Mobile devices micropayments is an old concept, a mobile
phone as a wallet concept is a hard nut to crack.

------
wmf
I think that headline is missing a "could".

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ciscoriordan
I misread that as "cloud" and thought you were saying something about
buzzwords. But yeah, you're right.

~~~
wmf
Cloud micropayments? I'm calling some VCs right now...

