A Recode conference on digital commerce yesterday saw a rising profile for Apple Pay.
Apple’s mPayment platform got a boost from mobile POS specialist Square, whose CEO Jack Dorsey announced at Code Commerce that his company’s digital debit cards are now compatible with Apple Pay. As Recode reports, Square Cash was recently upgraded from its original P2P functionality to enable retail payments, but because the digital payment card numbers had to be read out for purchases in stores, it wasn’t very useful for the average consumer. Now, Square Cash’s Apple Pay integration allows users to debit their Square accounts with the touch of a button, with Apple Pay taking care of the payment details via NFC communication.
Apple Pay head Jennifer Bailey also spoke at Code Commerce, where she revealed that in the two years it has been live, the mPayment platform’s compatibility has grown from four percent of US retailers to 35 percent. She also said the company is aiming to get more big merchants on board for 2017, including GAP.
It all bodes well for Apple’s pioneering platform. And while Samsung Pay’s MST technology has allowed that service to function with all kinds of POS terminals right out of the gate, every inch of new ground is a win for Apple, since it’s working to win over the mainstream market, not to beat its rival Samsung Pay.
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