Apple Pay

What does Apple Pay mean for mobile payments?

Quite a bit.

With Apple sitting on the sidelines the last few years there has been a headwind to any effort in this space.  The wait and see approach has been preferable to many, and the most affluent and innovative mobile consumers (largely) have been staying with Apple.

That all changed yesterday.

Clearly this will have ramifications throughout the space.  This is validation for efforts towards mobile payments.  The biggest players, including the biggest credit card companies and the largest banks, are all united on this path.  I view it as a sustaining move by the issuers and credit card companies.  They want to see things continue exactly as they are.

What about the merchants?

If you have great margins, as the luxury companies do, or speed is incredibly important for you, or you want/need your brand to be tied to a brand viewed as high-quality, this is good for you.  We've seen the companies announced and that matches perfectly.  What about the masses though?  Lower margins mean the existing payments networks are a terrible drain for you.  That is where CurrentC by MCX comes in.

I see this playing out along the lines of the wealth divide in the United States.  Apple with other luxury brands will ignite Apple Pay and NFC.  Meanwhile, CurrentC will grow amongst the largest retailers in the world.  Things should be pretty interesting the next few years.

Here are a couple articles that provide some perspective.

"New iPhones Will Get us Half Way to Mobile Payments"
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-09/new-iphones-will-get-us-halfway-to-mobile-payments

"How Apple's iPhone 6 Can Finally Make Mobile Payments Happen"
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-05/how-apples-iphone-6-can-finally-make-mobile-payments-happen

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant