Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
If banks are allowed to do this, then they would stop allowing their cards to be used in Apple Pay, as a user you would then have to open up 5 different apps for all your bank accounts. You wouldn't be able to open it from the Lock Screen, and you wouldn't have a shortcut(double click of the power button) to open it directly from your watch or phone. This would be much worse for the customers. Look at the adoption rate of Walmart pay vs Apple Pay or Android Pay
The adoption of Walmart pay is low because Walmart pay sucks. Why does Walmart pay suck? Because they are not allowed to use NFC hardware and instead have to rely on barcode scanning which is horrible so no one uses it. Apple knows this and this is precisely the reason NFC is locked down. And if a bank decided not to allow their card to be used in Apple Pay how is that any different than Apple saying this is our phone you can only use Apple Pay on it. Why can't the bank then say this is our bank you can only use our app to pay?
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohio.emt
We have no clue if there is a market for third party NFC apps on the iPhone. Apple has never allowed it. And just as some people prefer Android and Samsung devices, some people might prefer a third party NFC app on their iPhone.
Yeah, and some people might prefer to run unsigned code on their iPhone, but they gave that up when they chose the iPhone.
 
I assume you have been living under rocks and missed all of the world financial crashes caused by banking mismanagement of the past years?

I am aware of that. I am also aware that any big money making institution including Apple is capable of misleading customers and mismanagement. Why would you choose Apple over any other institution? As long as all those institutions are only in it for the money I prefer to trust any democratically chosen government over those institutions (including Apple).

Nothing to do with living under a rock. Just common sense.
 
And why is that? Did you democratically choose any of those institutions (including Apple)? Or is it because Tim Cook has nice blue eyes and other Bank CEOs have not? Your remark sounds a tad naive imo.
Because bankers don't understand technology like Apple does. Any bank-related software is always trash, including all that Cobol code running behind the scenes. Banks don't attract large amounts of engineering talent.

Makes sense because the banks are where they are due to decades or centuries of existence and being cemented in place by regulation, not by innovation. All of Apple's success comes from what it did 1998 onwards.
 
Because bankers don't understand technology like Apple does. Any bank-related software is always trash, including all that Cobol code running behind the scenes.

Makes sense because the banks are where they are due to decades or centuries of existence, not by innovation. All of Apple's success comes from what it did 1998 onwards.

See my previous post.
 
I am aware of that. I am also aware that any big money making institution including Apple is capable of misleading customers and mismanagement. Why would you choose Apple over any other institution? As long as all those institutions are only in it for the money I prefer to trust any democratically chosen government over those institutions (including Apple).

Nothing to do with living under a rock. Just common sense.
Exactly. How many class actions suits has Apple had to settle. Weren't they accused of misleading customers not too long ago into buying new phones when all they needed was a new battery. Apple tried to obfuscate the battery life details in your phone so you would just go out and buy a brand new shiny $1000 phone when all your 1 year old $1000 iPhone X needed was a $69 battery. Apple is like every other company out there. They will do anything it takes in the pursuit of more money. All companies are the same all throughout history and will continue to be the same until the decline of civilization. Not sure why the Apple cult tries to paint Apple as different.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohio.emt
Disclaimer: US perspective. I'm aware that NFC is a much better experience overseas.

The adoption of Walmart pay is low because Walmart pay sucks. Why does Walmart pay suck? Because they are not allowed to use NFC hardware and instead have to rely on barcode scanning which is horrible so no one uses it. Apple knows this and this is precisely the reason NFC is locked down. And if a bank decided not to allow their card to be used in Apple Pay how is that any different than Apple saying this is our phone you can only use Apple Pay on it. Why can't the bank then say this is our bank you can only use our app to pay?

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if retailers thought people might prefer QR/barcode over NFC. After all, the latter's traditionally been implemented pretty badly even at the places that wholeheartedly embraced it, and a fair number of places that started off with NFC are now trying their hands at barcode payment systems (7-Eleven being the most recent example).

BTW, Walmart in Canada supports NFC now and supposedly uses the same POS/backend as the US stores, so it's likely a calculated decision not to enable it here. What we don't know is whether they truly think that people will/do prefer QR/barcode payments or if it's some other reason (e.g. interchange fees, which they have a fairly long history of being against).
 
Disclaimer: US perspective. I'm aware that NFC is a much better experience overseas.



Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if retailers thought people might prefer QR/barcode over NFC. After all, the latter's traditionally been implemented pretty badly even at the places that wholeheartedly embraced it, and a fair number of places that started off with NFC are now trying their hands at barcode payment systems (7-Eleven being the most recent example).

BTW, Walmart in Canada supports NFC now and supposedly uses the same POS/backend as the US stores, so it's likely a calculated decision not to enable it here. What we don't know is whether they truly think that people will/do prefer QR/barcode payments or if it's some other reason (e.g. interchange fees, which they have a fairly long history of being against).
Yea and the only way we would know that is if Apple opened up NFC and gave stores like Walmart the opportunity to continue using barcodes or go to NFC. And ultimately the choice would be in consumer's hands who they wanted to go with. Choice is never a bad thing. If one option such as barcode scanning is a bad experience consumers won't use it and the market will correct itself. Just like what has happened with Walmart pay. Why would someone choose to take out their phone, unlock their phone, open up an app, and then hold up their phone to scan a barcode when NFC takes a fraction of the time. Apple knows this and will never allow NFC to be opened for precisely this reason.
 
No, it is because they are both in it for the money and both are not democratically chosen. So both don't have your interest but only their own interest in mind.
The biggest difference is one is competent and the other isn't.

The other is that, as soulless as big corps can be, some still have more of a soul than others. No corp can perfectly predict how to maximize profit, not even close, so instead they pick a policy to stick with. Some err on the side of treating the customer well, others err on the side of short-term profit. Plus the leaders themselves have personal morals. If you look closely at what they do, a lot of it has no explanation.
 
Because bankers don't understand technology like Apple does. Any bank-related software is always trash, including all that Cobol code running behind the scenes. Banks don't attract large amounts of engineering talent.

Makes sense because the banks are where they are due to decades or centuries of existence and being cemented in place by regulation, not by innovation. All of Apple's success comes from what it did 1998 onwards.
You know why they have Cobol or whatever Stone Age code running behind the scenes? It's rock solid. It may not be sexy like Windows 10 or macOS Big Sur but they are much more stable. I have never once ever been to the store and my Capital One or Wells Fargo or Bank of America card didn't work because the banks back end system running Cobol or Fortran crashed. Imagine if the banks back ends were running on the newest Windows or Mac software. They would be crashing all the time and we wouldn't have access to our money when we needed it. I love macOS but I would never want my bank to be running their critical financial systems on it.
 
The biggest difference is one is competent and the other isn't. Otherwise I'd have a Windows Phone.

The other is that, as soulless as big corps can be, some still have more of a soul than others. No corp can perfectly predict how to maximize profit, not even close, so instead they pick a policy to stick with. Some err on the side of treating the customer well, others err on the side of short-term profit, plus the leaders themselves have personal morals.
Yes, but tomorrow Apple can be as soulless as any other company. And there is nothing you can do about it because you have no vote other than your wallet. That is why I don't want any of those institutions to rule the world (including Apple). That is why we have democracies in place.

But hey, if you want to put your faith in any of those companies, don't let me stop you.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: sinoka56
The biggest difference is one is competent and the other isn't.

The other is that, as soulless as big corps can be, some still have more of a soul than others. No corp can perfectly predict how to maximize profit, not even close, so instead they pick a policy to stick with. Some err on the side of treating the customer well, others err on the side of short-term profit. Plus the leaders themselves have personal morals. If you look closely at what they do, a lot of it has no explanation.
Any company that does business in China and has factories in China where workers commit suicide to get out of can not EVER claim to be moral or have a soul. If I had a company I would probably have all my manufacturing in China, but I wouldn't go around preaching like Apple and pretending to be concerned with human rights as they do. Remember when the suicides at Apple's Foxconn factories in China were happening. What did apple do to combat it? They paid to put up nets around the factory so that when employees so miserable felt like committing suicide they wouldn't hit the ground. Such a moral and socially aware company!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohio.emt
You know why they have Cobol or whatever Stone Age code running behind the scenes? It's rock solid. It may not be sexy like Windows 10 or macOS Big Sur but they are much more stable. I have never once ever been to the store and my Capital One or Wells Fargo or Bank of America card didn't work because the banks back end system running Cobol or Fortran crashed. Imagine if the banks back ends were running on the newest Windows or Mac software. They would be crashing all the time and we wouldn't have access to our money when we needed it. I love macOS but I would never want my bank to be running their critical financial systems on it.
Cobol is a programming language, not an operating system like macOS. It's no more solid than newer ones like C (yes, C is "new" compared to this) or Java but actually a lot more fragile in practice. More importantly, it keeps away new people and entrenches SWEs who are familiar with the codebase. Actually the real problem isn't the language itself, but it's a good indicator of their bad environment.

Hindsight is 2020: Banks were initially one of the biggest opponents to the TCP/IP stack that powers the Internet today. They wanted to stick with their old crap.

Doubtless that their code has all kinds of security vulnerabilities guarded by secrecy alone, just waiting to surface. And yes, I've seen many issues with banking sites, but that's probably not the Cobol talking.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: sinoka56
Yes, but tomorrow Apple can be as soulless as any other company. And there is nothing you can do about it because you have no vote other than your wallet. That is why I don't want any of those institutions to rule the world (including Apple). That is why we have democracies in place.

But hey, if you want to put your faith in any of those companies, don't let me stop you.
Who said ruling the world? All we're asking for is Apple ruling their own platform. I can switch platforms if they piss me off. It even has a minority market share.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: sinoka56
Apple Pay wouldn't go away. It would still be there and still be available to use if the consumer chose to do so. There would just be more competing apps which the customer could use if they so choose. No one would be forced to use one or the other. This is about consumer choice not about allowing more apps at the expense of Apple Pay. Apple Pay would still probably be used by the vast majority of iPhone users; doesn't mean that since most consumers like Apple Pay there should not be any competition.
Why would they pay Apple if they don't have to? That's what leads to the fragmentation and where it becomes an app for every payment service. Right now it's all bundled up in Apple. Great for the user except the choice isn't as big as it could be.

Of course this isn't about consumer choice! Haha. This is about corporations trying to get their slice of the pie. ATM Apple has that slice of the pie. Is that right or wrong? Probably a bit of both.
I just pointed out the reality of what will happen. And make no doubt, that fragmentation will happen. History proves that to us over and over again. The question is, is it worth it?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: sinoka56
Cobol is a programming language, not an operating system like macOS. It's no more solid than newer ones like C (yes, C is "new" compared to this) or Java but actually a lot more fragile in practice. More importantly, it keeps away new people and entrenches SWEs who are familiar with the codebase. Actually the real problem isn't the language itself, but it's a good indicator of their bad environment.

Doubtless that their code has all kinds of security vulnerabilities guarded by secrecy alone, just waiting to surface. And yes, I've seen many issues with banking sites, but that's probably not the Cobol talking.
Ok then replace macOS and Windows with Swift. I still wouldn't want the world's financial systems running on Swift.
 
Why would they pay Apple if they don't have to? That's what leads to the fragmentation and where it becomes an app for every payment service. Right now it's all bundled up in Apple. Great for the user except the choice isn't as big as it could be.

Of course this isn't about consumer choice! Haha. This is about corporations trying to get their slice of the pie. ATM Apple has that slice of the pie. Is that right or wrong? Probably a bit of both.
I just pointed out the reality of what will happen. And make no doubt, that fragmentation will happen. History proves that to us over and over again. The question is, is it worth it?
Then why should the banks open up their systems and let Apple Pay access them. Apple didn't invent or invest in the banking system. They didn't go out and build their own bank. They built a NFC payment platform that is only viable if banks open up and let Apple access their systems. See all companies are dependent on others. Apple just wants everyone to open up to them but is not willing to open themselves up unless forced to by some governmental body.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ohio.emt
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.