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Apple Restricting Use of NFC Antenna in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to Apple Pay

roadbloc said:
Touch-ID is just a password replacement. As far as I'm concerned it makes things less secure. It is easier for a thief to force/trick you to unlocking your phone with a thumbprint. And if they were really desperate they'd just take your finger from you.

With friends like mine, Touch-ID is very insecure. They'd just wait until I fell asleep and then unlock my phone. All my messages, contacts and money available for them super easy.

Touch-ID changes nothing. It is just an alternative to a password, which are often much more secure.
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Nice friends you have. They wait until you fall asleep and then take your phone and your finger. But they still don't have access to all your money. They won't be able to see your stored credit card numbers, as those aren't visible on the phones. When you wake up (assuming they haven't drugged you), you can wipe the phone or simply turn off Apple Pay. You don't even have to cancel your credit cards. Imagine their shock when they try to buy that big-screen TV at Target using your iPhone and your severed finger, and it doesn't work! Those same security cameras that record people entering their BlackBerry passwords will register the look of surprise and disappointment on your friends' faces.
 
Gregintosh said:
Locking it down makes perfect sense. They want apple pay to be the main standard, and if they let 3rd party payment solutions on there maybe some clever 3rd party would leverage the iPhone base and beat Apple at it's own game.

They'll open it up when they're the undisputed market leader and no one can catch up to Apple Pay.
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I would wager this is true.

I'm sad not for additional NFC payment options, but I was stoked to see new accessories and other use cases from third party vendors :(
 
Journification said:
NFC is the end game.

The iPhone, from version 6 onwards, is the start.

iBeacons are the midway.

The logical user journey looks like this:

iPhone > contextual marketing, via iBeacon > checkout, via NFC.

There is absolutely no need to open up NFC for any other reason than payments, it simply isn't a satisfactory user experience and presents a detrimental 'hide and seek' experience for the consumer.

Check out our post from last week... http://www.journification.com/journification-blog/
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Oh yeah, iBeacons. Being a UK resident I'd forgotten all about those. Apple don't even have them in their UK stores yet.
 
lazyrighteye said:
Oops. Missed we were talking EU fraud. I was just acknowledging overall plastic fraud would drop and that is exactly how Apple was able to negotiate with the major card companies.

But since you asked...
http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/plastic_fraud_figures/index.asp
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I'll also add this one (two articles about the same compromise):

http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB122366999999723871
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...as-netted-millions-from-British-shoppers.html

:apple:pay wouldn't have been vulnerable to this, as the transaction information would have been useless. This is what appeals to the banks: they have nearly absolute control over the "real" financial account information during these transactions.
 
The Phazer said:
Apple's effort is half assed and US only.

Meanwhile the rest of the world will be progressing apace with contactless cards, and Apple will be left behind. Third parties might have been able to fill the gap, but instead this is iTunes Radio and Apple TV all over again - a parochial solution by a company blinded in it's US centricity, missing the boat.
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If you and everyone who complained about Apple not rolling Apple pay world wide, know what you're talking about.

Rolling out something as important as payment, should be incremental so that bugs can be easily contained, issues ironed out. Nobody who know what they're doing will roll payment out on a global scale on day one.
 
iGal83 said:
Oh yeah, iBeacons. Being a UK resident I'd forgotten all about those. Apple don't even have them in their UK stores yet.
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As of yesterday, Macys have rolled out iBeacons across their estate... it's a technology that's gathering momentum in the US.

Meanwhile, in the UK many companies are adopting iBeacons and they are deployed in some Apple stores already.

FYI payments can be triggered and taken via iBeacons too - another reason not to open up NFC!
 
I hope this capability hits Canada sooner than later. If I can ditch carrying even one card it'll be great.
 
I hope they open it up to transit cards and the like relatively soon. Focus on things that eliminate the wallet!
 
Nobody should be surprised by this. It's classic Apple. As the article said, they'll open it up to devs later.

For me, I'm just glad they finally added the tech to the phone. I don't mind waiting for more uses once the bugs are all worked out of Apple Pay.




:apple:
 
Journification said:
As of yesterday, Macys have rolled out iBeacons across their estate... it's a technology that's gathering momentum in the US.

Meanwhile, in the UK many companies are adopting iBeacons and they are deployed in some Apple stores already.

FYI payments can be triggered and taken via iBeacons too - another reason not to open up NFC!
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I don't know of a single UK company using iBeacons. Tesco (large UK store) haven't even updated their app to iOS7 yet. If the biggest supermarket can't even do that, why would they use iBeacons or ApplePay?

I would love to use this tech, but the UK doesn't get it.
 
Mr Fusion said:
Won't matter... This is a gimmick feature that'll fade in a year like Siri. One data breach is all it'll take to ruin this, and it's clear tech companies have zero interest in security.

That's great Apple thinks they have the power to push NFC into the mainstream. But until I can leave home without cash, my bank card, drivers license, etc. I'll still require a wallet.
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This will take off. It's quicker and more secure than taking my wallet out of my pocket. A lot of adults have multiple cards, also, so I'll be able to trim down to one credit card, my atm card, my id, and cash in a slimmer wallet.

Keep in mind, also, that women (and some men) carry purses/bags where they keep their cards and wallets. While they have to fish through them for their cards and wallets, I'd be willing to bet all could grab their phone in a flash.
 
itsmemuffins said:
Just like Touch ID was opened up, so will NFC.
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I think you are right. And I think Apple is wise to restrict use initially. Any feature which raises security concerns needs to be tested and hardened before opening it up.

That would have been one way to go with health features on the Apple Watch as well; but Apple could not have developed a critical mass of killer features on their own. I'm expecting/hoping Apple will have a very rigorous vetting process for third-party health-related features.
 
ptb42 said:
Compared to the alternatives, it's a LOT simpler. Apple doesn't have to negotiate with individual merchants. And they don't have to deal with the different transaction processors.

And, it makes it much easier for the consumer to determine if :apple:pay will work in a particular instance. A merchant has the NFC icon on the terminal: will :apple:pay work? It's determined by the bank's logo on the card.... not the merchant, or the transaction processor.

In the US, the banks supporting :apple:pay are making a big deal about it. My bank has the announcement on their home page. Others have reported seeing banners in the bank offices. A couple of banks quickly scrambled to announce they are working with Apple to implement it soon. US banks see :apple:pay as a differentiator between them and a competitor bank. And they don't want to lose existing or potential customers to another bank because they don't support :apple:pay.

I'll ask European members: are there a handful of major banks or credit card issuers that are available to nearly all European Union residents? If so, those will likely be the first to support :apple:pay. I'd wager that Apple is already talking to them: the only question is who called who first.
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Support of Apple Pay is the last reason I'd switch banks. My credit union will likely never support it, and I'm fine with that. Apple Pay doesn't make ******bank, Wank of America and Crapital One any better.
 
brewno said:
When Apple can legally scan IDs and guarantee that no market place will ever run out of power for transactions, I'll keep on carrying money, credit cards and ID in my wallet :p
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So will I. But I hope my wallet will be slimmer, as I will not be carrying as many different cards as I do now.
When I asked the bank clerk if I could use Apple Pay at the ATM, she said yes.
I could get by with one ID, one credit card (for emergencies), and a little cash (for dire emergencies). I think I'm going to like living in the future.
 
doelcm82 said:
Nice friends you have. They wait until you fall asleep and then take your phone and your finger. But they still don't have access to all your money. They won't be able to see your stored credit card numbers, as those aren't visible on the phones. When you wake up (assuming they haven't drugged you), you can wipe the phone or simply turn off Apple Pay. You don't even have to cancel your credit cards. Imagine their shock when they try to buy that big-screen TV at Target using your iPhone and your severed finger, and it doesn't work! Those same security cameras that record people entering their BlackBerry passwords will register the look of surprise and disappointment on your friends' faces.
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I would hope the salesman would notice the individual using a severed thumb for unlocking the iPhone for payment and maybe, just maybe contact the local law enforcement.
 
Keebler said:
Well I'm not surprised by this at all. It may be viewed as cockiness by Apple and sure it's locking in a feature, but from a business POV, if that was my company and I had a chance to make $.15 from every $100 spent for millions of phones sold which have the potential to use that feature, I would lock it down too.

In a heartbeat.

Why put this in place and then open it up to similar services?
Maybe there will be other NFC uses and maybe they'll open it up later, but for now, I'd lock that puppy down and enjoy the $$$ coming in. :)
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I doubt this is the issue. They will have a huge advantage in that nfc will always trigger their own service automatically, bringing up your :apple:wallet not your google wallet. You'd have to manually launch a different wallet. I think apple knows that's enough of an advantage. The real issue is security, for the same reason they waited on Touch ID.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
In the U.S.? No, not the majority. The key to Apple Pay is that it's baked into the Apple Watch. If I don't have to dig out my wallet and pluck out my CC that's a thing of beauty. I agree it's no more difficult to pull out my wallet than my CC, but if wide NFC adoption b/c of Apple Pay means I don't have to carry physical CCs, again Joy to the World.
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But it does mean you have to buy and wear a slightly hideous Apple Watch, I think I'll take the hit on having to reach into my pocket for my card.
 
I guess I'll just have to stick to my paytag stuck on the back of my phone in the UK then.
I was looking forward to not using it, and hopefully barclaycard switching on NFC/contactless payment in their app in some form.
This restriction means that's not gonna happen :-(
I even got my hopes up when barclaycard announced they were ending the agreement they had with Orange for NFC payments on certain handsets - I thought that was just making way for a wider usage, on iPhones too.
Maybe it still is, just still being worked on.

For now, paytag it is! :(
Barclaycard%20and%20IPhone_.jpg
 
username: said:
Is this a new thing in the US? had NFC payments for a while here
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Universal_Contactless_Card_Symbol.svg

Nope, nothing new for the US. But, I never actually used Google Wallet until after last week's Keynote. Since I first used it last week, I love it. But before, I didn't even realize that everywhere this symbol is accepts it, even if it doesn't have the Google Wallet logo.
 
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