After a mishap, I recently had to go on vacation without a credit card. I was ready with cash but it never mattered – to my surprise, wireless payments and Apple Pay let my iPhone make all the purchases I needed.
It’s clear we’re really not far away from physical credit cards becoming obsolete. That’ll be one less hassle in our lives.
As expected from previous actions and statements, the European Union formally objected Monday to how Apple denies other companies use of the technology that drives Apple Pay.
The European Union reportedly plans to accuse Apple of violating the law by limiting access to the iPhone’s NFC capabilities to the company’s own payment system. The goal is to give rival systems like PayPal access to the iPhone’s convenient tap-to-pay function.
Apple claims the limitation is there to protect users’ financial information. The EU calls it anticompetitive.
As you may have nervously noted, given past lapses (You? Never!), Mother’s Day is fast approaching. It falls on Sunday, May 8. To help you out, Apple sent out a series of Apple Pay promotions Wednesday that’ll save you a few bucks on thoughtful gifts for mom.
Discounts are outlined below. And in case you missed it, Apple also put out a gift guide for the occasion.
Apple is in the process of upgrading Apple Pay fraud prevention features for cards stored in the Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch, starting with Visa cards.
Some users have already started noticing a new “Enhanced Fraud Prevention” alert badge.
If you care about environmental causes, Apple just gave you a pretty painless way to give. Starting Thursday and running through Earth Day on April 22, Apple will donate $1 to the World Wildlife Fund for every Apple Pay transaction in Apple stores, on the store app or on Apple.com.
So start buying stuff and join the fight to save the planet’s beleaguered species.
Rather than letting existing financial companies handle all its payment processing, Apple wants to bring some of it in-house, according to an unconfirmed report. And the Mac-maker would also like to take on a range of other related services itself.
The goal is to reduce the amount of money Apple has to pay outside companies for financial services.
Apple will give iPhone the ability to accept contactless payments without additional hardware later this year, the company confirmed Tuesday.
The feature, which Apple calls “Tap to Pay,” initially will be available to merchants in the United States who use a “partner-enabled iOS app.” The company says Tap to Pay will “empower millions” to use their iPhones to seamlessly accept payments.
Apple on Thursday rolled out its first iOS 15.4 beta adding the ability to use Face ID with a mask for the first time. Since then, tests carried out by developers have uncovered some additional (and important) tidbits.
Here’s what you need to know.
Apple is working to give iPhone the ability to accept contactless credit card payments over NFC without the need for additional hardware “in the coming months,” according to a new report.
You currently need a third-party credit card reader, like those made by Square, to use iPhone as a payment terminal. However, since iPhone 6 made it debut in 2014, Apple’s smartphone has been packing the NFC technology that’s needed.
