Apple is planning to let small businesses receive payments directly on an iPhone without the need for peripheral hardware, according to a new Bloomberg report.
The service, which hasn’t yet been officially announced by Apple, would operate through the same NFC technology that enables payments through Apple Pay, Apple’s consumer-focused payments platform. Essentially, this new service will extend Apple Pay to the merchant side, allowing a retailer to accept contactless payments without the need for a Point-of-Sale terminal.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Apple has been working on the feature since it acquired Mobeewave, a Canadian startup focused on tap-to-pay technology, in 2020. It isn’t yet clear when Apple is going to launch the feature.
Nor is it clear how it will handle security. Apple’s attention to security through its other offerings is well known, with the tech giant having played a major role in popularizing the use of fingerprint and face biometrics for authentication on mobile devices. On the consumer side, Apple Pay currently lets users confirm payments via its Touch ID or Face ID biometric authentication systems.
The report of the iPhone’s latest payment functionality offers the latest illustration of Apple’s expansion into payments and financial services. Besides proliferating its Apple Pay service, Apple has also launched its own credit card, and recently hinted that a forthcoming mobile ID system will have applications at retail outlets.
Source: Reuters
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