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May 22, 2023

On the web

Apple Pay on a Roll, and the Banks are Rattled to Their Cores (Australia)

Australian Financial Review

"Inside Apple, it was known as Project Muirfield. Not only would the iPhone be able to make payments, but accept them too. This week the plan came to life in Australia. The US technology giant said Westpac and Tyro would be the first banks to allow business customers to download an app to receive payments from customers with their iPhone, rather than through a payment terminal."

May 17, 2023

On the web

Apple Launches Tap to Pay in Australia

Power Retail

"Apple has today launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia, which they say empowers local businesses of any size to accept in-person contactless payments on iPhone using a partner-enabled iOS app. This move will rival Square and other POS systems. The capability was launched last year in the United States."

May 16, 2023

On the web

May 11, 2023

On the web

EU Regulators Ramp Up Probe into NFC Tech at Core of Apple Pay

AppleInsider Forums

"The European Commission, which oversees antitrust laws in the EU, has accused Apple of engaging in anticompetitive behavior since the launch of Apple Pay in 2015. Officials are concerned that Apple's limiting the iPhone's built-in NFC chip to Apple Pay makes it impossible for third-party companies to break into the mobile payment market.Bloomberg has learned that the EU is currently exploring other payment options for mobile devices, such as QR codes and Bluetooth technologies, as alternatives to Apple's NFC chip."

April 26, 2023

On the web

Apple’s Innovative Tap to Pay Service is Now Live in Taiwan

Apple Must

"Apple has introduced its small business friendly Tap to Pay service in the first nation outside the US of A, launching it in Taiwan this week. Introduced as Apple CEO, Tim Cook toured India this week, Tap to Pay Taiwan is also being supported by local payment providers there, including CTBC Bank and TapPay, with Taipei Fubon Bank coming on line soon."

April 25, 2023

On the web

Why Apple's Expansion Into India Is a Great Move

Nasdaq

"Apple has managed an incredible growth story and is worth more than $2 trillion, making it the most valuable company in the world. As a company gets larger, growing at the same pace gets much harder as growth opportunities get exhausted. For a company the size of Apple, it may seem like it's running out of growth opportunities. Thankfully for Apple investors, there's still room for the business to get bigger."

Apple Wins Appeals Court Ruling Against Epic Games

Engadget

"An appeals court has issued a ruling in the long-running antitrust tussle between Apple and Epic Games . As Bloomberg reports, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling, which rejected most of Epic's claims that Apple violated federal competition law by prohibiting alternative app stores on its devices. The three-judge panel also upheld a part of the original ruling that was in Epic's favor."

April 24, 2023

On the wires

US Appeals Court Upholds Order Forcing Apple to Allow Third-Party App Store Payments

Reuters

"A U.S. appeals court on Monday upheld a federal court's order that could force Apple Inc. to change payment practices in its App Store, and Apple said it may appeal the decision. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld a 2021 order in an antitrust case brought by "Fortnite" creator Epic Games that could require Apple to allow developers to provide links and buttons for third-party in-app payment options and avoid paying sales commissions to the iPhone maker."

April 17, 2023

On the web

Apple Launches Apple Card’s Savings Accounts with 4.15% Interest Rate

TechCrunch

"Apple Card customers in the U.S. can open a savings account and earn interests starting today. When the company originally announced the new financial product back in October, Apple said that it couldn’t share what interest rate would be paid out on these accounts because rates are fluctuating so much these days. As of today, Apple is going to offer an APY of 4.15%."

April 4, 2023

On the web

After Google, Apple Adds UPI Autopay For Subscription-Based Payments In India

BQ Prime

"Apple has updated its App Store to include the UPI autopay as a new payment method for subscription-based transactions in India. With the help of UPI autopay, users can set up automated payment methods for regular payments using any UPI app that supports the feature. According to a report by Inc42, the news was made public when Apple emailed its Indian customers to inform them about the function."

PayPal Adds Apple Pay Support for Small Merchants Using Advanced Checkout

TechCrunch

"PayPal is adding new tools for small business owners including Apple Pay support at checkout, the option for customers to save their cards for this specific site, and access to IC++ pricing. Small and medium businesses currently have two ways to integrate PayPal in the checkout flow. In addition to the Standard Checkout integration that lets you accept PayPal payments with little effort, the company also has an Advanced Checkout integration feature for companies that want more personalizations and payment features. Companies that have opted for the latter option can now accept Apple Pay payments from their customers."

March 31, 2023

On the web

Apple Pay Later Can Give Affirm and Klarna a Run for Their Money

Quartz

Apple is finally ready to hand out loans to its users, nine months since first teasing the service. Apple Pay Later, which Apple introduced in a limited release in the US yesterday (Mar. 28), lets users split purchases into four payments, spread over six weeks, for no additional fees or interest. The so-called Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) service allows users to “easily track, manage, and repay their Apple Pay Later loans in one convenient location in Apple Wallet,” the Cupertino company said in its announcement. The only requirement is that users put a debit card on file for the loan repayment method.

March 28, 2023

On the web

Apple Introduces Apple Pay Later to Allow Consumers to Pay for Purchases Over Time

Businesswire

"Apple® today introduced Apple Pay® Later in the U.S. Designed with users’ financial health in mind, Apple Pay Later1 allows users to split purchases into four payments, spread over six weeks with no interest and no fees.2 Users can easily track, manage, and repay their Apple Pay Later loans in one convenient location in Apple Wallet®. Users can apply for Apple Pay Later loans of $50 to $1,000, which can be used for online and in-app purchases made on iPhone® and iPad® with merchants that accept Apple Pay.3 Starting today, Apple will begin inviting select users to access a prerelease version of Apple Pay Later, with plans to offer it to all eligible users in the coming months."

January 17, 2023

On the web

From Credit Cards, Savings Accounts To Lending: How Apple Is Quietly Becoming More And More Like A Bank

India Times

We all know that iPhone maker Apple Inc. has been a tech giant for several decades. It’s also the world’s first company to hit the mammoth $3 trillion market capitalization. Every year, the tech giant gives the world new products and technology. But that’s nothing new, right? What if we told you that Apple has quietly been becoming more and more like a bank as well? Yes, you read that right. Scratching your head to know how?

January 16, 2023

On the web

Apple Card Has Caused Losses of Over $1 Billion for Goldman Sachs

Techstory

On its Platform Solutions business group, which includes Apple Card, Goldman Sachs has lost $3.03 billion in almost three years. Bloomberg claims that a sizable chunk of such losses was attributable to credit cards.According to a regulatory filing made public by Goldman Sachs, Platform Solutions pretax losses totaled $3.03 billion from the beginning of 2020 through the end of September 2022.

December 19, 2022

On the web

Apple’s iPhone Needs a Shake-Up. A New Law Might Help.

Washington Post

“Apple Inc.’s walled garden around its technology is as synonymous with the iPhone maker as the iPhone itself. It is how Apple lures consumers into buying expensive earphones, watches and speakers that work seamlessly with that rectangular slab in their pockets, and ultimately what locks people in to Apple products.  That has been great for Apple’s business, but not always so great for consumers. Now, a European law is forcing the company to loosen its iron grip on its products. That ultimately could lead to a more dynamic experience on the iPhone as developers create more and feature-rich apps for the platform that capitalize on more of Apple’s technology.”

December 14, 2022

On the wires

Apple Plans to Let Rival App Stores on iPhones in EU-Bloomberg

“Apple Inc. is preparing to allow alternative app stores on its iPhones and iPads in the European Union as soon as late next year to comply with a new European competition law it had fought, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Opening up to outside app stores could present a major threat to Apple’s fast-growing services business, but rivals would first have to surmount the hurdle of convincing consumers to leave the security and simplicity of using Apple’s own store.”

December 13, 2022

On the web

Is Apple About to Eat PayPal’s Lunch?

The Motley Fool

“The next time you’re out shopping, don’t be surprised if you see the person checking out in front of you using their iPhone to pay instead of a credit card. Apple’s (AAPL 1.64%) payment service, Apple Pay, saw a 52% year-over-year increase in adoption during November, according to data from Salesforce cited by Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Keane. That was across both in-store proximity payments and online payments made through Apple devices. That’s bad news for PayPal Holdings (PYPL 0.31%) and other, more established, digital wallet services. Apple is rapidly taking market share, and its fintech aspirations could stymie the growth of its rivals. While the number of Apple Pay users was soaring, usage of PayPal and regular credit cards declined in November. While both of those methods have much larger user bases than Apple Pay for online and in-store transactions, respectively, this result signals that users are dropping older payment methods in favor of Apple Pay. That said, PayPal is still the one to beat in online payments. Consumers used it for 16% of all e-commerce purchases. Apple Pay is far behind, used for just 5% of purchases.”

December 6, 2022

On the web

Walmart Checking and Apple Savings: Different Motivations, Similar Outcomes?

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

“Walmart and Apple have announced plans to offer traditional financial accounts. Walmart’s consumer checking account may advance financial inclusion by increasing account access to unbanked and underbanked consumers. Apple’s consumer savings account may change how credit card issuers offer rewards to their customers. Both offerings are likely to increase competition in the financial services industry, though whether they ultimately benefit consumers remains to be seen. This Payments System Research Briefing examines the two companies’ new offerings, their motivations and target markets, the likely outcomes for their respective customers, and potential implications for the financial services industry.”

December 1, 2022

On the web

Apple’s New Coinbase Shakedown Would Literally Ban Ethereum Trades And Transfers On iOS

Forbes

“Coinbase tweeted this morning that Apple blocked the release of its latest crypto wallet app, asking for a cut of gas fees when people transfer NFTs to each other. Coinbase had to disable its NFT transfer feature before Apple would let the company update its popular self-custodial wallet.    “Apple’s claim is that the gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system, so that they can collect 30% of the gas fee,” Coinbase said via it’s Coinbase Wallet Twitter account. “This is akin to Apple trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols.”   For once, that’s not PR hyperbole.   It’s actually that serious.”

November 10, 2022

On the web

PayPal and Apple to Accept Each Other’s Payment Products

Finextra Research

“PayPal and Apple have struck a deal to start accepting each other’s payments products within their separate ecosystems. The pair have agreed to let US merchants accept contactless payments on their iPhones – using Apple’s new Tap to Pay technology – through the PayPal and Venmo iOS apps.Meanwhile, Apple Pay will be added as an option in PayPal’s unbranded checkout flows on merchant platforms.”

November 4, 2022

On the web

After Stripe and Square, Venmo and PayPal are Set to Support Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhones

TechCrunch

“PayPal announced Thursday that it will soon support Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhones. The company said in its Q3 2022 earnings report that both PayPal and Venmo will soon support this tech as a part of its offering. Merchants will be able to accept contactless card payments as well as payments via Apple Pay and other digital wallets (Google Pay). Apple first announced Tap to Pay on iPhone in February to let merchants accept payments without any additional hardware. The company had Stripe as a launch partner with Jack Dorsey-led Square coming on board later in September. Now, with Venmo and PayPal joining the fray, merchants will have varied options of apps and services to choose from to accept payments.”

October 26, 2022

On the web

Apple Unveils Stricter App Store Rules for Crypto and NFTs — Critic Says Firm Wants to Keep Money in Its Ecosystem

Bitcoin News

“In its updated guidelines for apps in the Apple App Store unveiled on October 24, Apple Inc. said crypto exchange apps “may facilitate transactions or transmissions of cryptocurrency on an approved exchange.” In addition, such transactions can only be offered “in countries or regions where the app has appropriate licensing and permissions to provide a cryptocurrency exchange.” The technology company also clarified that crypto wallet apps “may facilitate virtual currency storage, provided they are offered by developers enrolled as an organization.” However, according to the new guidelines, apps are prohibited from mining crypto and offering “currency for completing tasks, such as downloading other apps.” The only exception to the crypto-mining prohibition is when “the processing is performed off [the] device.” Besides limiting the use of the crypto-transferring apps, the latest guidelines state that developer apps “may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency wallets.” Similarly affected by this requirement are digital gift cards, certificates, vouchers, and coupons which are redeemable for digital goods or services. Apps utilizing the App Store’s in-app purchase function are subject to Apple’s 30% fee, which has been criticized by app creators in the past.”

September 27, 2022

On the web

Apple Pay Later is Reportedly Facing ‘Technical and Engineering’ Issues

The Verge

“Apple Pay Later is facing some “significant” setbacks that could delay its launch until next year, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The feature is Apple’s version of a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, letting you make a payment through Apple Pay and then pay it back in four installments without interest. Apple said its Pay Later feature would arrive with iOS 16 when it first announced the program at WWDC in June. But now that iOS 16 is out, Apple Pay Later hasn’t made an appearance, and the fine print on Apple’s iOS 16 page vaguely says it’s “coming in a future update.” As Gurman points out, Apple Pay Later is the only unreleased iOS 16 feature on the page that doesn’t include a timeframe for when we might expect its rollout. Other features, like key sharing and no-setup Siri shortcuts, are listed as “coming later this year.””

August 25, 2022

On the web

iOS 16.1 to Let Users Delete Wallet Amid Antitrust Concerns Over Apple Pay

9 to 5Mac

“Apple on Tuesday surprised developers with the release of both iOS 16.0 beta 7 and iPadOS 16.1 beta 1. And while neither update comes with significant changes, it seems that Apple will soon let users delete the Wallet app from their devices with iOS 16.1. To make things clearer, iPadOS 16.1 beta is only available for iPad at this point as Apple has confirmed that the release of iPadOS 16 has been delayed to a later date. As such, iOS 16.0 is expected to be released for iPhone users in the coming weeks, while iPadOS 16 will arrive as version 16.1 later this fall.”

August 18, 2022

On the web

Wait, When Did Everyone Start Using Apple Pay?

Wall Street Journal

“Patience isn’t the most popular virtue in Silicon Valley, where companies aspire to move fast and break things, the motto that defined the age of tech excess. Nothing broke on the day in 2014 when Apple presented a new service called Apple Pay. If the quality of destruction was measured by the speed at which it happened, the flashy innovation from an industry titan would have been considered a disappointment. The idea that it would make the wallet obsolete sounded ridiculous when the pace of Apple Pay adoption underperformed expectations. Wall Street analysts and iPhone users alike were skeptical for the next few years. The experience of using a credit card didn’t seem like a problem that required a solution from Apple. It’s a bet that now appears to be paying off in a very strange way for our hit-driven economy: slowly.” (Subscription required)

August 11, 2022

On the web

Soft POS User Base Set to Surge

IT-Online

“A new study from Juniper Research has found the total number of merchants deploying soft POS solutions will surpass 34,5-million globally by 2027; rising from 6-million in 2022. This growth will be driven by Apple’s entrance into the soft POS space; enabling iOS users to access an affordable mobile POS solution. Soft POS enables NFC enabled smartphones or tablets to accept contactless payments, without additional hardware. The research forecasts that Apple’s decision to enable third parties to develop soft POS solutions leveraging iOS NFC capabilities will result in an influx of iOS-specific services; leading to innovative solutions for merchants. Furthermore, the research predicts Apple’s entry will provide 1,2-billion iOS users with soft POS capabilities; unlocking a previously untapped market.”

August 4, 2022

On the web

Goldman Sachs, Bank Behind the Apple Card, Says Regulators are Investigating its Credit Card Practices

CNBC

“Goldman Sachs said that its credit-card business is being investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a range of billing and payments practices. The bank disclosed the probe in a quarterly filing on Thursday, saying that regulators were examining its “account management practices, including with respect to the application of refunds, crediting of nonconforming payments, billing error resolution, advertisements, and reporting to credit bureaus.”  While New York-based Goldman made no mention of its partnership with tech giant Apple in the filing, most of the bank’s $11.84 billion in card loans through the second quarter were from the Apple Card.”

August 2, 2022

On the web

Third-Party Browsers Starting to Support Apple Pay in iOS 16 Betas

MacRumors

“Apple has added Apple Pay support to third-party browsers in recent betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16. The added support, spotted by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, marks a change from iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 and earlier, where in-browser ‌Apple Pay‌ is exclusively available in Safari. Moser found that ‌Apple Pay‌ is available in Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome as of iOS 16 developer beta 4, and other users have noticed ‌Apple Pay‌ support in Mozilla Firefox. Moser noted that ‌Apple Pay‌ support continues to be unavailable on the macOS versions of Edge and Chrome, presumably since they do not use WebKit, Apple’s browser engine that is mandatory for third-party browsers on iOS and iPadOS. This suggests that ‌Apple Pay‌ support is dependent on WebKit and this is the location of any changes Apple has made to expand support for ‌Apple Pay‌.”

July 22, 2022

On the web

Apple’s Version of Virtual Cards Could Be Coming in iOS 16

Gizmodo

“Just as Google announced it would be adopting virtual cards for shopping through Chrome, Apple is likely also implementing virtual cards in its Safari browser. The news comes from 9to5Mac, which is currently digging through the iOS 16 beta 3, released yesterday afternoon for developers. According to code the site has seen, Apple has apparently been working to implement virtual cards within Safari to keep your online shopping ventures secure across the board.  Virtual cards are offered by some banks as an option while shopping online so that your actual card and account information isn’t what’s making the rounds when data breaches occur. It also makes it easier for banks and other institutions to cancel a card on a whim. And it’s a more straightforward mechanism for providing one-time use cards.”

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