Comment on Apple Offers iPhone NFC Chip Access to Apple Pay Rivals in EU
killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 8 months ago
This reeks of bringing people to the well after it’s already dried up. The established convenience of Apple Pay is unlikely to take much of a hit from would-be competitors.
I do hope, though, that it spurs Apple to innovate a bit more, particularly w.r.t loyalty and rewards schemes and the likes.
I agree, but at least it is now possible to compete with Apple Pay. The position of Apple and Google Pay is too strong if competition is unthinkable.
Apple was smart to partner with the banks and acting as a proxy initially. The next step could bypass Visa, MasterCard, banks, payment processors, …
helenslunch@feddit.nl 8 months ago
Disagree. Apple Pay charges much higher rates than competing payment processors. It benefits everyone except Apple to make the change. It is equally convenient to use a different app w/ NFC.
kirklennon@kbin.social 8 months ago
Apple Pay isn't a payment processor. It's a system for banks to provisional additional cards on their customer's devices, which are then processed the same way and for the same fees as tapping the physical card.
Banks want direct access to the NFC because they want to bully people into making their app the default handler for payment cards. One of the great things about Apple Pay is that all banks must compete as equals for every transaction. It's trivially easy to switch which card you use when you pay and every card gets the same best user experience.
Forcing NFC open is, paradoxically, anti-competitive, because it makes it easier for the biggest banks to stop competing and instead lock their customers in.
helenslunch@feddit.nl 8 months ago
LOL what? That’s literally the only thing it is…
Not correct. Apple doesn’t provide this service out of the kindness of their hearts. They charge 0.15% transaction fee.
kirklennon@kbin.social 8 months ago
Merchants do not have any relationship with Apple for Apple Pay transactions. You tap your phone and it's treated the exact same way as when you tap your card. The merchant sends it to whoever they use for card processing, who eventually sends it to the card network (Visa, etc.) and to the bank for approval. That's what payment processing is. Apple isn't involved at any step. They are involved in the provisioning process where cards are added to your device.
Apple charges a fee to the issuing bank, which comes out of their share of the card processing fee paid by merchants. The original (2014) reported fee for US credit card transactions was 0.15%. Card processing fees are, in general, significantly cheaper in Europe (and indeed most other countries). We don't even know if the US fee is still 0.15% but it definitely isn't in the EU.
themurphy@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Higher rates? Do customers pay more for using Apple Pay than any other solution where you are from?
I know shops pay a fee, but never heard it to be on the customer to pay.
helenslunch@feddit.nl 8 months ago
The higher rates are passed on to the merchant to eat, just like any other payment processors.
trolololol@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s common in Australia to tell customers that cc card fees are added to the bill. Not everywhere but also not surprise.
Your country + my country is a small share of global market, unless you’re in China.
kirklennon@kbin.social 8 months ago
The key thing though is that Apple Pay is still just a credit or debit card. There’s no extra fee for the merchant or customer. It costs the same to process as using the physical card.
straypet@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Well but guess where the merchants get their money to pay for that expense. If it increases the business’s cost, it ends up being paid by the final consumer.
kirklennon@kbin.social 8 months ago
Apple Pay doesn’t increase the business’s cost.