Apple made it look easy on the micro level at its Sept. 9 presentation, but the tech company's digital wallet platform, Apple Pay, is in for a rough road of bucking and bypassing from the consumers and retailers that piece together the macro view.
Touch ID is still being streamlined and adopted by app developers so that payments are as brief and intuitive as possible. But it's the exclusive nature of Apple Pay, both in terms of platforms and devices, that has made a pessimist out of Danny Sullivan, vice president of Pizza Hut's global digital experience.
Not only does Apple pay live in a sphere that's detached from the web, the payments system doesn't support Android users, Sullivan points out. Furthermore, there's a good collection of Apple customers who have yet to upgrade to devices capable of making use of the virtual payments platform.
"I am more pessimistic about Apple Pay's impact than most people here," said Sullivan. "I had a call with Apple last week and right now it is only a payment system for apps. It is shut off from the mobile Web, which I think everyone knows is a bigger part of everyone's business from mobile devices. And, it is shut off from Android pretty much completely. It doesn't work too far back on technology. I think it will take longer than most people think."
Sullivan said Apple Pay would be come a success only after financial institutions stop sending out plastic cards to consumer. That's something that won't happen anytime soon, he said.
While banks fell in line early with Apple Pay, UBS stated in a report that it expected financial institutions to branch out and develop more of their own software in an effort that will undermine what Apple is attempting with its digital wallet.
"Allowing intermediaries like Apply Pay to succeed subordinates the brand, commoditizes the experience and creates excessive fees from the perspective of issuers and merchants," stated the report.
But not everyone has lost that Sept. 9 buzz Apple and its payments system delivered. Brett Miller, vice president of e-commerce at Calvin Klein, said he believe Apple's digital wallet will "remove a lot of friction" and he stated that he still believes it will change the payments game.
"My instinct is it is a game changer," said Miller. "The alternative mobile payments space -- I read there are 26 different ones -- I think this one is going to be the tipping point in the whole process just because there are 500 million iTunes account holders, 22,000 retailers have already signed on and how easy it to go on iTunes and buy something."
