What's New in Payments

Apple to launch ‘credit card paired with iPhone’

Apple, Goldman Sachs team up on credit card paired with iPhone — The Wall Street Journal — “The card will be rolled out to employees for testing in the next few weeks and officially launch later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies hope to lure cardholders by offering them extra features on Apple’s Wallet app, which will let them set spending goals, track their rewards and manage their balances, the people said.”


What's New in Payments

Analysts: 43% of iPhone users have now enabled Apple Pay

Apple Pay adoption continues to climb — Loup Ventures — “We estimate, based on our survey work as well as the growth in transactions, countries, locations, and banks, that 43% of global iPhone users have enabled Apple Pay. This is up from 36% in Sep-18 and 20% in Dec-17. That implies there are currently 383m Apple Pay users, up 21% sequentially and 135% y/y… We estimate that 24% of US iPhone users have used Apple Pay vs 47% of international users.”


Tesco lets customers use Siri to check their bank balance

‘How do you want to check your balance?’ Tesco Bank lets customers use Apple’s Siri to check their balance — Tesco Bank — “Tesco Bank has today announced changes to its mobile banking app, which will enable iPhone customers to check account balances using Apple’s Siri functionality… To use our new Siri feature within the mobile banking app, customers should first ensure the functionality is enabled on their device. Customers can then turn on Siri within the app by visiting the settings menu.”





What's New in Payments

TD Ameritrade leverages Apple Pay to let share buyers use debit cards to instantly fund their brokerage accounts

Industry first: TD Ameritrade enables investors to instantly fund brokerage accounts using Apple Pay — TD Ameritrade — “TD Ameritrade announced an industry first today: The ability for individual investors to instantly fund a brokerage account with Apple Pay through Apple Business Chat in the Messages app on iPhone and iPad. Historically, to fund brokerage accounts, investors have had to endure a multi-day waiting period while funds were verified or manage a complicated wire transfer… Using a debit card, customers can deposit up to US$10,000 per day through Apple Pay.”




What's New in Payments

German savings banks press Apple to open up its NFC chip

Mobile payment: Sparkassen wants iPhone NFC, but no Apple Pay — Heise Online (translation) — “Apple must open the NFC transmission standard to other payment services, the savings bank association has demanded… Sparkasse offers its own mobile payment app, which until now has only been available for Android devices due to Apple’s NFC blockade. ‘Ultimately, smartphone payments should be possible on all devices, without technical hurdles and restrictions, so that customers can easily choose the right solution for them,’ the association argues.”




What's New in Payments

EU antitrust chief ‘could review’ Apple Pay

EU’s Vestager may investigate Apple Pay if there are formal complaints — Reuters — “EU regulators looked into Apple’s mobile payment service and found it was not market-dominant but they could review it again if they receive formal complaints, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Monday… Critics say that an NFC chip embedded in the Apple iPhone means that Apple Pay is automatically selected when an iPhone user pays for goods and services, barring rival payment methods.”



NFC World

Tory Burch unveils smartwatch with NFC payments support

Tory Burch launches its Classic Gigi as the brand’s first touchscreen smartwatch — Tory Burch — “This new piece is a state-of-the-art smartwatch that balances fashion and function with features that include heart-rate tracking, swimproof functionality, payment methods, untethered GPS and more… Powered with Wear OS by Google and Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 SoC, the new ToryTrack Gigi Touchscreen Smartwatch is compatible with both iPhone and Android phones.”