Apple is working on a new service that allows small businesses to accept plastic card payments directly from the iPhone without using additional terminals. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to reports, the company has been working on a new feature since 2020; then it acquired the Canadian startup Mobeewave for $100 million; which developed a technology that allows smartphones with NFC modules to accept payment by bank cards. NFC is already in use on the iPhone for Apple Pay payments.
To accept payments on the iPhone, merchants in some countries can already use special terminals connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth – a market dominated by Square technology developed by Block Inc. The new feature will turn the iPhone itself into a payment terminal, allowing small businesses like food service owners and hairdressers to accept funds from bank cards or compatible smartphones.
We do not know whether the possibility will be part of the Apple Pay ecosystem and how Apple will implement this option. Apple will start rolling out software updates in the coming months. The company expected to present the first beta version of iOS 15.4 in the near future; and the release for the mass user will take place, presumably in the spring. Apple itself declined to comment.
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Apple will allow you to use the iPhone as a payment terminal
The company has long been trying to enter the payments market: in 2019 in the US; it launched the Apple Card, launched Apple Cash virtual service for digital transactions; and is considering an Apple Pay service that allows you to pay for purchases in installments.
The iPhone won’t be the first smartphone to use Mobeewave technology to accept payments. Samsung, which backed the startup until it was sold to Apple, was using bank card payments on some of its devices as early as 2019.
It is worth mentioning that Samsung has figured out how to protect and ensure the security of bank cards. It suggested embedding a fingerprint scanner in the “plastic”. The company itself positions the solution as the industry’s first comprehensive solution that allows you to read biometric information through a fingerprint sensor, store and recognize encrypted data, and analyze and process data through a secure chipset.
So, Samsung integrated the chip, fingerprint sensor and security module into one chip. Payment cards with such a microchip will make the process of making purchases safe and fast. In addition, biometric authentication eliminates the need to enter a PIN code on a keypad; and also minimizes the chance of fraudulent transactions with lost or stolen cards.
