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Apple Partnering With American Express on iPhone Mobile Payments Initiative [Updated]
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Wow! This news must be of GREAT relevance to you, we're so thankful you chose to add your voice to this discussion. I feel enlightened.[/sarcasm]
I'm excited. I remember tapping my old Nexus S everywhere I could before the novelty wore off and I realized it was hit-or-miss. I'm assuming if Apple's bringing this to the frontline they've worked out all the kinks and this will be more reliable than NFC implementations of the past. EMV card readers going mainstream will also bring NFC terminals to more and more places in America. We're finally joining the rest of the world!
(gad, I hate saying this...)
I'm old enough to remember places that didn't take BankAmericard (now Visa), MasterCharge (now MasterCard), and those that did, didn't have the cool Zonjr automatic approver/decliners. You had to look in a book to see if the card number was there, and then had to tell the poor guy/girl that I had to hold on to their card because it was "in the book".
Anyway, this is one of those technologies that Apple will put out, and expect the "Venturi effect," where the rush of retailers installing it will bring others on board.
In 3 years, I'd expect others outside of London (and cities in the US) to have this as the norm.
Those that don't will just take credit cards the old way, and there will be incentives for the hold-outs to start taking them. (ie. $200 for the machine and a lower cut of the credit card charge for a year from 3% to 2.5%)
Not for everyone. I personally buy everything on a credit card because it's a secure way to buy things, if the card is stolen you can refuse the charge and the credit card company can help you recover the funds. If you pay off your credit card every month many earn you rewards. For people who are responsible with money credit cards are great.
just get an US iTunes account. it doesnt check your IP or location. i use iTunes radio from Germany all the time
As a business owner, I am not too fond of amex. They charge on average a higher percentage than Visa or MC, and payments take twice as long to post to our account.
Though I agree Apple should roll out services to other countries faster, with iTunes Radio you guys aren't missing much. I used it for 6 months until Beats Music launched. When Beats Music launches in the UK, I highly recommend giving it a go.
The U.S. might actually be a better test bed for NFC than Europe. We are stuck on the system of dumb cards with magnetic stripes on the backs, the banking system here not being willing invest in the infrastructure for the cards with imbedded chips that are in wide use elsewhere. Perhaps Apple envisions a way to leapfrog the chip-implanted card technology with NFC. If so, the U.S. would be a good place to test it.
I read a study a few years ago that business owners were pushing back against Amex percentages, but when asked which card they preferred to use as individuals, they all said "well Amex of course."
I am a business owner as well and yes they do charge a percentage or 2 more as a premium, but I don't mind as they offer premium services and rewards.
I'm more angry about Uncle Sam charging me so much in taxes while so many Americans don't pay any taxes at all :/. Wish we would get rid of income tax totally and just do a 10-14% flat sales tax (but that's another forum
I wish Canada was more like Germany and Japan in this sense. It's so easy to buy things you don't have money for, and I'm guilty of it too, but trying to change my ways. Debit FTW!
Thank you for your kind words!
I just use "smart" for people that don't touch the hot stove twice, and "wise" for the person that watches someone touch the hot stove once, and they don't do the same.
NFC - Bring it On, Apple
This will put a serious hurt on the likes of PayPal, Square and the many others scrambling to cash in on the instant, electronic payment bandwagon.
Oh, I wonder how the other major credit card companies left in the dust are going to embrace this? Hmmmm
Go Apple!
This will put a serious hurt on the likes of PayPal, Square and the many others scrambling to cash in on the instant, electronic payment bandwagon.
Oh, I wonder how the other major credit card companies left in the dust are going to embrace this? Hmmmm
Go Apple!
I read a study a few years ago that business owners were pushing back against Amex percentages, but when asked which card they preferred to use as individuals, they all said "well Amex of course."
I am a business owner as well and yes they do charge a percentage or 2 more as a premium, but I don't mind as they offer premium services and rewards.
I'm more angry about Uncle Sam charging me so much in taxes while so many Americans don't pay any taxes at all :/. Wish we would get rid of income tax totally and just do a 10-14% flat sales tax (but that's another forum
We have received a bunch of emails from amex a few months back saying they have revamped their system to post payments to processors accounts much faster (i think they said 1-2 days)... I haven't really payed attention to notice if it has indeed improved. Hopefully. It has always taken appx a week for a charged amount to post to our account, which in this day and age seems crazy.
They do, kind of. Amex originally just did charge cards, and you can still get a charge card from them.
I use my amex for everything, so I earn air miles on everything. Doing this has probably saved me £3-4000 on flights over the years, so it's been well worth it.
My credit card number I trust them with is an "asset"? Golly, thanks for reminding me I'm a product for Apple, not vis versa...
This will put a serious hurt on the likes of PayPal, Square and the many others scrambling to cash in on the instant, electronic payment bandwagon.
Oh, I wonder how the other major credit card companies left in the dust are going to embrace this? Hmmmm
Go Apple!
I have two minds on this...
Visa: You, Square, you are so small! You will do my bidding!
Apple: You, Visa, you are so small! You will do my bidding!
The funny thing would be, with a market cap of $132B, Apple just buys them.
just get an US iTunes account. it doesnt check your IP or location. i use iTunes radio from Germany all the time
Is it that simple? Do I have to switch between US and GER account all the time when I want to buy stuff in the app store ?
I do all the time. And it's awesome. I use a Galaxy S5.
All yo do is unlock your phone and hold it at the reader. Google Wallet takes care of the rest. It's really a cool feature!