The Apple Beat: Why Apple Pay is sending shockwaves through the payments industry

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

 Apple Pay is actually a very big deal. More than just enabling mobile payments in a handful of partner retailers, the entire system is designed to ‘just work’ once the switch is flipped. Apple Pay will hope to become as prevalent a payment option as Visa, MasterCard or any debit card that people are already using. 

The first public Apple Pay transaction is still a few weeks away from happening, but news that Apple’s solution to mobile payments is coming, is sending shockwaves through the payments sector.

A key feature of the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch, Apple Pay has the backing of major credit card companies, over 800 million ready-to-go credit cards on iTunes, various debit cards plus 220,000 retailers and businesses have already signed up or, at the very least, already have the necessary infrastructure to accept Apple Pay without any large investment in hardware or training.

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Apple’s payment platform tipped for debut alongside iOS 8.1

It looks like October 20 isn’t just for the debut of iOS 8.1. Bank Innovation’s Ian Kar claims Apple’s payment platform, Apple Pay, will be rolled out on that day as well. Sources close to Apple say Apple Pay will be made available for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users once they download iOS 8.1. Mobile wallets have been around for a while but they haven’t gained much traction. We have to wait a bit more to see if Apple’s offering will encourage people to leave their wallets behind and adopt this new way to pay for purchases.

Source: Bank Innovation | Via: Business Insider

Review: iPhone 6

Text and photos Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Marrying stunning hardware with killer software has been Apple's way, and the iPhone 6, it's most important product, moves the ecosystem forward in terms of device, software (iOS 8, OS X) and services (iCloud, Continuity, Apple Pay).

Apple’s popular iPhone hit its landmark 7th year and counters the challenge posed by competitors on a number of fronts.

iPhone 6 features an all-new seamless unibody design, a second generation  64-bit A8 processor and M8 coprocessor, a new camera sensor with enhanced video features and better focus and low light performance, NFC for payments, a Barometer, as well as the most LTE bands (20) on any smartphone in the market.

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Video: First look at the Apple Pay

Apple has put its prodigious talents into solving the antiquated payments systems we use today and develop a truly mobile, secure and easy mobile payments platform using the iPhone 6. Here's a short demo of how Apple Pay will work with a retailer. Apple Pay already has various banks, credit and debit companies onboard and more importantly, the retail infrastructure is buying into this new way of purchasing with mobile devices. Apple Pay uses the new NFC chip in the iPhone 6 as well as established features such as PassBook and the Touch ID to securely verify identity for payments.