Apple CEO Tim Cook has claimed that 2015 is the year of Apple Pay, and with a running start in the United States, the mobile payments system has found early success.
Since Apple Pay's launch in October 2014, the number of iPhone 6 users who are taking advantage of the feature has drastically increased. For example, Whole Foods Market reported that mobile payments increased by over 400 percent since the implementation of Apple Pay in its stores.
Apple Pay promises to change the way users make payments through a contactless technology backed up by unique security features, allowing users to pay using only a single touch.
Apple Pay is set up within Apple devices by first adding the user's credit card or debit card information from their private iTunes accounts to their device's Passbook, which would prompt the user for the security code of the card. Users can do so by going into Settings, opening Passbook and Apple Pay then selecting Add Credit or Debit Card.
As opposed to users handing over their cards for payment, which makes the information of the card visible, Apple Pay uses a unique Device Account Number instead of the actual numbers of the user's card. The Device Account Number is encrypted and stored securely in a dedicated chip named the Secure Element.
When making purchases, the Device Account Number is paired with a dynamic security code specific for the transaction to begin processing the payment. The information is never stored on servers of Apple, and is also never shared with merchants or sent out along with payments, securing the data within the user's phone.
If the device is lost or stolen, users can use the Find My iPhone service to place the device in Lost Mode, which would suspend Apple Pay. Users can also choose to wipe clean the lost or stolen device to erase all the Apple Pay information stored within it.
Stores that have Apple Pay systems in effect allow users to just hold their iPhone near the contactless reader of the system, with the user's fingerprint on the smartphone's Touch ID, to make the payment. Users don't even have to wake up the phone's display to make the payment.
The feature will also be available in the upcoming Apple Watch, which can be activated by double clicking the button beside the Digital Crown and placing the smartwatch near the contactless reader.
The success of Apple Pay has largely been due to the sheer number of retail partners that have signed up with Apple to implement the mobile payments system. In addition to the Apple Store, customers may use Apple Pay in stores on this rapidly growing list:
- Aeropostale
- American Eagle Outfitters
- Babies 'R' Us
- Bi-Lo
- BJ's Wholesale Club
- Bloomingdale's
- Champs Sports
- Chevron and Texaco, with retail stores such as ExtraMile
- The Disney Store
- Duane Reade
- FoodMaxx
- Foot Locker, including Kids Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, House of Hoops, and Run by Foot Locker
- Footaction
- Harveys Supermarket
- Jewel Osco
- Lucky
- Macy's
- McDonald's
- Meijer
- Nike
- Office Depot
- Panera Bread
- Petco and Unleashed by Petco
- RadioShack
- Save Mart Supermarkets
- Select kiosks, vending machines, and self-pay stations (in partnership with USA Technologies)
- Sephora
- Shaws
- Six:02
- Sports Authority
- Sprouts Farmers Market
- Staples
- Star Market
- Subway
- Toys 'R' Us
- United Supermarkets
- Walgreens
- Wegmans
- Whole Foods Market
- Winn-Dixie
While previous versions of mobile payments systems implemented by other companies have largely failed, Apple seems to have rejuvenated the industry with Apple Pay, as more and more users are setting up their iPhones to use the feature in more and more stores.
