Apple presented its new mobile payment app Apple Pay that was introduced in Cupertino on September 9th.
Apple released its new mobile payments instrument Apple Pay that is expected to facilitate bitcoin transactions in the future. The new tool was demonstrated as part of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus presentation. Bothe devices were introduced in Cupertino in California on 9th September.
Apple Pay is integrated with existing infrastructure, such as Secure Element and Touch ID. It also uses near-field communication (NFC) technology that allows tap-and-go payments.
Besides, Apple cooperated with popular companies to deploy the infrastructure for the payments tool, among others Whole Foods, McDonald’s and Disney.
Such credit card companies as VISA, American Express and MasterCard, as well as banks Citi, Bank of America, Capital One, Wells Fargo, Chase and Barclays have also signed up.
Apple CEO Tim Cook commented: “We’ve placed a lot of energy into creating an entirely new payments solution.”
Apple Pay users will be able to suspend the functionality if they lose their phone by using Find My iPhone service. As the phone does not hold the information on credit cards, credit card cancellation is not required.
However, how the new offering will influence bitcoin and virtual currency?
Apple Pay’s introduction did not provided any information about bitcoin. Still, Cook noted that the developer API for Apple Pay would be released. The announcement indicates that developers could create new bitcoin apps with the use of the instrument.
The event drew a lot of attention from the technology sector and fans of Apple products and services.
Meantime, the bitcoin community responded to the new developments and some posted comments on Twitter.
Bitcoin core developer Oleg Andreev wrote:
Pay privacy: only merchant and your bank know who you are. Bitcoin: there is no bank and merchant only sees money, not your personal data.
— Oleg Andreev (@oleganza) September 9, 2014
Bitcoin entrepreneur Andreas Antonopoulos wrote that Apple’s NFC push will increase the number of the technology users. Still, bitcoin will be the better option.
Apple will make NFC available everywhere. Bitcoin will make NFC usable without selling your soul to banks.
— Andreas (aantonop) (@aantonop) September 9, 2014
Coinsetter CEO Jaron Lukasiewicz said the bitcoin community shouldn’t worry about Apple’s new launch: “Apple Pay is still built on top of the same old credit card payment networks and banking system. Bitcoin is therefore well-positioned to enhance Apple Pay over the long run through its integration behind the scenes, providing merchants lower costs and instant access to their funds.”
In an interview with CoinDesk, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, stated that Apple Pay won’t be able to compete with bitcoin because of issues with legacy payment structures.
He said: “As many in the Bitcoin community have already noted, while this is an improvement in user convenience and security, it’s still ultimately built on the ‘old rails’ of the card networks and the existing bank interchange fee structure.”
Allaire added: “It will be exciting to see how the industry rallies around these new facilities for touchless mobile payments using digital currency.”
Polina is an undergraduate student at Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU) where she is studying at the faculty of International Business Communication for a degree specializing in Intercultural Communication. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, music and travelling.