
Apple Working with American Express on iPhone 6 Mobile Payments - srikar
http://recode.net/2014/08/31/apple-partnering-with-american-express-on-new-iphone-payments-system/
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julianpye
Apple working with 'INSERT ANY CC PROVIDER' on iPhone 6 Mobile Payments...

More interesting is the question which technology will be used. NFC has to
play a role here, because the technology is in the market and scalable. My
weirder and more riskier bet is that NFC on the Apple wearable will refit all
older iPhones with mobile payments. Until now noone has put NFC on a wearable,
even though it makes most sense to have it on a wrist.

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rch
They just installed NFC-ready consoles at my local Whole Foods. It could
easily be coincidence, of course.

~~~
personZ
It is a coincidence, and it is odd that Apple seems to get attribution for
emerging technology trends.

All of the payment vendors are or have already embraced NFC. Here in Canada,
NFC is ubiquitous, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't in the US. MasterCard's
PayPass, for instance, is NFC.

~~~
marcobooth
I rarely use NFC payments for any purchases. If Apple gets into the payment
space, I probably will.

The reason they get credit is that people actually use the solutions they
provide.

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personZ
_The reason they get credit is that people actually use the solutions they
provide._

The entire payment industry is moving to chip / NFC, and the parent offers up
that maybe Whole Foods is prepping for Apple.

No, they aren't. They're prepping for, again, the entire payment industry.
Hundreds of products across all major payment vendors. You haven't used it
because the US payment space in particular is very slow, but soon enough every
card you carry will feature it, and the technology will be ubiquitous, with or
without Apple getting involved.

This happens repeatedly: Apple is very good at choosing the right time to
enter a market -- hitting it when it hits primetime -- and then they get
credit for creating the market. Incidental, but I saw an incredible
conversation the other day where multiple participants were vilifying Apple's
competitors for copying Apple on wearables.

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encoderer
> This happens repeatedly: Apple is very good at choosing the right time to
> enter a market -- hitting it when it hits primetime -- and then they get
> credit for creating the market. I

I know. Remember when Microsoft started the tablet market in 2003 and then
Apple comes along 7 years later and steals credit for tablets! Psh!

And remember when Apple got credit for smartphones when all they did was enter
the market that BlackBerry had created and turn it on it's fricken head with a
device so much of a leap-frog that blackberry management thought would never
ship? [[http://mathiasmikkelsen.com/2011/05/blackberry-makers-
though...](http://mathiasmikkelsen.com/2011/05/blackberry-makers-thought-the-
original-iphone-was-impossible-to-make/)]

And remember when they strolled into the MP3 player market after the Rio
players were crushing it with literally thousands of units sold every year?
They step into that market right when it's about to blow up and next thing you
know, everybody acts like Apple was the company that put the white buds in
everybody's ears!

In all seriousness, yes, Apple does of course time their entry into a market.
And when they do, they unleash a torrent of innovation, marketing, and brand
goodwill. I bet name recognition for fitbit is under 50% on the street. What
do you think that would/will be if Apple released a similar wearable? Like
them or not, Apple products are iconic. My dad knows iPod and iPhone. Do you
think he knows HTC One? Or even Galaxy S?

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Drakim
Nobody contests that Apple products are iconic. The trouble, a lot of people
seem to think that since Apple popularized something, they "own" it now and
any other company that enters the market (or was in the market before Apple!)
is now "stealing" what rightfully belongs to Apple.

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biafra
"...as secure as traditional payment cards".

Are they referring to mag stripe or EMV by saying "traditional" payment cards?

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blutoot
How many average joe's carry an American Express? They need Visa/Mastercard
and some well-known retailers to make this work from the get-go.

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ajross
An Amex card is no harder to get than a MC/Visa. Costco has done quite well in
the relevant middle-class-american-suburb market with an Amex-only policy.
This isn't the barrier.

The retail penetration, however, _is_ the barrier. If you can't use these
things mostly everywhere, this service is going to be no more successful than
Google Wallet.

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "An Amex card is no harder to get than a MC/Visa."

Do Amex do a debit card? In Europe (certainly in the UK) debit cards are in
much wider use than credit cards and Visa and Mastercard debit cards are given
with almost every bank account.

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superuser2
They do a particularly weird instrument called a "charge card." It's not a
debit card because it's not pulling straight from a checking account, but
there's no long-term line of credit either. It's like a credit card that
you're actually _required_ to pay in full every month. So no different from
responsible credit card use, but still not credit.

~~~
meepmorp
> They do a particularly weird instrument called a "charge card."

It should be noted that they also offer regular credit cards, in addition to
the charge card, and these do not require payment in full at the end of the
bill cycle.

~~~
mpclark
And prepaid cards too, iirc, through Walmart.

Edit: ignore me, I see somebody else has already mentioned this further
down...

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mavdi
Breaking News, Apple is working with Lada on self driving cars.

Seriously, Amex seems to have not heard of any tech progress since 1998. Their
website is atrociously bad.

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lucberlin
I agree with @blutoot they need to focus on Visa and Mastercard. Then again
maybe they're going for a higher HHI bracket?

