visa

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on visa:

Don’t use Visa cards with Express Transit on iPhone if you hate getting mugged

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Security researchers just uncovered a big flaw.
Photo: Apple

Security researchers have discovered a major flaw in Express Transit on iPhone that allows hackers to steal money from a user’s Visa card. They say the problem can be easily fixed, but neither Apple or Visa seem interested.

The flaw makes it possible for iPhone’s contactless payment system, designed to make it easier and faster to pay for public transport, to be charged arbitrary transactions by a device that imitates a transport terminal.

Apple, Goldman Sachs team on rewards credit card

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Apple, Goldman Sachs credit card will replace Apple Reward Card
Get ready to tear up your Apple Rewards Card. The company will release a replacement next year with Goldman Sachs.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple is working with Goldman Sachs to release a credit card, according to an unconfirmed report. This will apparently take the place of the company’s current Rewards Visa.

The card will be offered under the Apple Pay brand. Goldman Sachs will allegedly replace Barclays as Apple’s partner for credit cards.

Apple Pay’s next step? Peer-to-peer payments

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is again working to deliver its own Venmo competitor that will allow fans to transfer money to one another using their iPhones, according to a new report.

Multiple sources familiar with the company’s plans expect the service to be unveiled later this year.

Swatch and Visa partner to one-up Apple Pay

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Swatch isn't going to let Apple have all of the contactless-payment fun.
Photo: Apple

Like the Borg, Star Trek‘s race of cybernetically enhanced humanoids, Swiss watch maker Swatch is attempting to have the best of both worlds as it rolls out a partnership with Visa to bring Apply Watch-style contactless payment to its new line of analog timepieces.

Swatch announced the deal today, and the program will roll out early next year.

Samsung Pay goes head-to-head with Apple Pay this September

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Samsung Pay is finally on the way.
Photo: Samsung
Samsung Pay is finally on the way. Photo: Samsung
Samsung Pay is finally on the way. Photo: Samsung

Samsung’s new phablets aren’t the only thing we got out of its Unpacked event in New York City today; the South Korean company also announced a launch date for its new mobile payments service. Samsung Pay will be coming to take on Apple Pay in the U.S. on September 28.

Visa, MasterCard follow Apple Pay’s lead with beefed-up security

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A war for mobile wallet dominance is on the horizon. Apple Pay. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The industry is embracing tokenization and biometric security, both of which are Apple Pay's marquee strengths. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple wasn’t kidding when it said Apple Pay would transform mobile payments. Built around easy of use and security, Apple Pay is the industry’s first solution that benefits users and banks.

The security aspect of Apple Pay has been especially crucial to its early success, and now the big credit card companies have been spurred to follow suit. Today both Visa and MasterCard announced new security initiatives to protect against cyberattacks. Visa in particular has borrowed one of Apple Pay’s key ideas: tokenization.

New Apple rewards credit card will earn you free gift cards

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Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Frequent Apple Store shoppers will love the company’s latest credit card partnership with Barclaycard and Visa. Like rewards cards from Amazon and others, you earn points when you spend that add up to free money.

“The Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards” card also offers special financing deals for new Apple product purchases.

Why Apple Pay is the future

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Apple Pay. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
About to test Apple Pay at the local Walgreens. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Critics are fond of saying Apple doesn’t innovate any more. But Apple’s new electronic payment system, Apple Pay, is innovation of the highest order. After a relatively smooth rollout this week, I honestly believe Apple Pay is the future of payments.

Even so, Apple Pay must clear some big hurdles if it’s to become the universal standard. For now, it’s limited to Apple’s latest iPhones and a relatively small number of retail partners, but the basic system — using your fingerprint to validate a purchase on your mobile phone — is the way we will pay for goods and services in the future.

Once again, Apple has shown the world how things should be done.

Amazon Rewards credit card now supports Apple Pay

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Amazon Rewards Visa in Passbook. Screenshot: Alex Heath/ Cult of Mac
Amazon Rewards Visa in Passbook. Screenshot: Alex Heath/Cult of Mac

Amazon added Apple Pay support today for its Amazon.com Rewards Visa.

Since Chase, the Amazon rewards card issuer, was an Apple Pay launch partner, some speculated that Amazon intentionally opted out of Apple’s mobile payments system. But Amazon quickly confirmed this week that it was working on adding support for its credit card in the near future. Now it’s followed through.

Samsung’s At It Again, Announces Passbook Clone Called Wallet [MWC 2013]

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mwc2013bug-coaBARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — During a Samsung developer conference here at Mobile World Congress this morning, the Korean company unveiled a new service called Samsung Wallet, which lets Samsung smartphone owners turn tickets, coupons, membership cards, boarding passes, and more into digital cards that they can store in a virtual wallet.

The service probably sounds familiar, and it is — Samsung Wallet is basically Apple’s Passbook, but for Samsung phones. It works in almost exactly the same way, and looks very similar, too.

Pay For Your NYC Subway Ride With Your iPhone Through Visa payWave

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If you need to take the G Train in New York City or pay for a cab you’re jumping uptown, you now have a new way to pay for your ride: with your iPhone.

Visa has just announced that they have inked deals with the New York City subway to let you simply display your iPhone in front of a kiosk or turnstile in select locations as part of a trial of their payWave system.

What’s payWave?It’s essentially just Visa smart chip circuitry that allows you to wave a credit card or payWave-equipped device in front of a cash register, no signature or pin codes required.

Since the iPhone doesn’t have payWave circuity installed by default, if you want to use it with your iPhone, you need to use a specially designed payWave case to graft the functionality onto your handset.

If you’re willing to pick up one of those, though, you can start helping VIsa test out the service Think of the possibilities! While all those other suckers wait in line to recharge their Metro Cards, you’ll be able to breeze past the turnstiles with an Obi-Wan-style wave of your iPhone.

Pretty neat, but eventually, you can probably expect your iPhone to handle this sort of thing natively. Apple’s been doing some hiring and some research into Near Field Communications, and that, more likely than not, means that a few years down the line, you won’t need a special case: your iPhone will be your credit card.