Analysts at J.P. Morgan recently issued a note regarding Apple’s official entrance into the payment market with the introduction of Apple Pay, calling the move a “positive catalyst” in the mobile payments market.
“Thematically, Apple Pay is a much needed positive catalyst for mobile payments adoption and a win for collaboration between technology and regulated payment leaders/incumbents to put out a simple, secure solution, understanding the degree of difficulty to do so is high,” the firm said in a note.
Apple Pay enables iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users to securely pay in-store and within apps without having to manually swipe their actual credit or debit card. Purchases are also protected by Zero Liability, which reimburses customers for promptly reported unauthorized transactions. As is Apple’s modus operandi, the official unveiling included a few surprise features.
“What we didn’t expect was inclusion of debit cards (we expected credit only, adding debit significantly strengthens use case) for physical, and one-touch checkout for in-app purchases only online. We had also thought QR/bar code reading would be an option to include more devices,” JP Morgan stated, later noting the importance of debit as it accounts for 70% of all card transactions.
For the time being, the number of merchants accepting Apple Pay is limited to Apple’s 258 Apple retail stores and App Store, as well as some of the nation’s leading retailers; consumers will recognize participating vendors by the universal contactless acceptance symbol.
There’s also a limited number of participating banks, though Top players American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Capital One, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo are already on board.
The magnitude of this technology to mobile and ecommerce obviously stands to be seen, but it’s already creating ripples of opportunity in for smaller companies and merchants to saddle with the Apple brand.
One such company is Miami-based Net Element, a technology-driven group specializing in mobile payments and value-added transactional services. The company recently said it will integrate Apple® services into its point-of-sale payment acceptance hardware and software, enabling Net Element merchants the ability to accept Apple Pay from their customers.
Aligned with the company’s strategy to capitalize on this opportunity and carve its niche in the mobile payment industry, it will offer a free NFC (near field communication) Contactless, EMV-enabled (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) point-of-sale terminal to merchants that upgrade to its Unified Payments service offering.
Net Element’s award-winning Unified Payments enables merchants to accept traditional “card present” and “non-card present” payments, as well as cashless methods such as prepaid cards and gift cards. Unified Payments offers a complete range of terminals and peripherals available for same-day deployment.
The aforementioned J.P. Morgan note, entitled “More Comprehensive Than Expected, More Collaborative Than Disruptive,” is demonstrative of the ease of implementation in which Net Element can offer the service to its merchants and expand its offerings to the global mobile payments industry.
Utilizing a portfolio of global development centers, high-level business relationships, and ability to recognize tremendous industry opportunities, Net Element is well-positioned to maintain its momentum of growth in the changing landscape of mobile commerce and alternative payments.
For more information, visit www.netelement.com
