The announcement of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch has been quite important for Apple. However, possibly the most interesting launch during the company's keynote is of a service called Apple Pay. If done right, it could change the way we pay for things forever.
Over the years, several companies have tried changing the way we pay by using Near-Field Communication technology, to tap and go, but none have come close to doing it correctly. In fact, Google might have come the closest with its Google Wallet platform, but the wireless carriers made sure it didn't take off in any substantial form in favor of their own failed project, Isis.
According to Apple's Tim Cook, from on stage during his keynote, the current payment system is broken, and Apple is right for the job of fixing this issue.
"This whole process is based on this little piece of plastic, whether it's a credit or debit card," said Cook while on stage. "We're totally reliant on the exposed numbers, and the outdated and vulnerable magnetic interface, which by the way is five decades old, and the security codes which all of us know aren't so secure."
Cook hopes that Apple Pay will change everything and make it easier for consumers to pay for things both offline and online.
The process of using Apple Pay is quite easy, according to Apple. Users with an iTunes account can easily add their credit card information to the service and simply tap their iPhone 6 or Apple Watch device at the payment terminal to pay. By the way, we should mention that Apple Pay relies heavily on NFC, something Apple criticized in the past, so we're surprised the company has now come on board and even went as far as to call it the standard for wireless payment.
Adding new credit cards that are not on iTunes is also a no huff and puff affair. Just simply use the iSight camera to take an image of the card, go to the back to verify, and voila, the card's information is now situated in Apple Pay.
Now, what truly puts Apple Pay at the forefront of changing the payment system forever is the vast amount of merchants and banks that have come out to support the platform. Apple announced that it is working with 258 retail stores, and the top banks that handle around 83 percent of all credit card transactions in the United States.
Apple is even working with Uber, and we expect in the future, the company should also make a deal with Lyft.
This whole plan by Apple is huge, and paves the way for true change. It could also open the door for Google Wallet and other systems to help bring a change that is desperately needed to bring down the current payment system.
