Tag: Apple Pay

Square could bring Apple’s mobile payments service to small businesses

| November 28, 2014

Square plans to expand its support of Apple Pay

Small businesses may soon get access to Apple Pay, thanks to payments firm Square. Launched last month, Apple Pay has become somewhat popular among retailers. The service enables companies to accept payments made by mobile devices, specifically the iPhone 6. Currently, some large retail organizations are among the few that actually support Apple Pay, but smaller retailers will soon be able to accept mobile transactions through the service.

Square offers a variety of services to organizations that are interested in mobile commerce

Square is often seen as a strong competitor in the mobile payments field. The company, however, provides services to a multitude of other organizations that are interested in mobile payments. Square offers physical point-of-sale terminals that are able to accept and process mobile transactions from a variety of different payment services. The company plans to integrate Apple Pay support into these terminals in the near future, allowing retailers using these point-of-sale systems to work with Apple’s new payment service.

Updates to Square’s module card reader are in the works

Mobile Payments - iPhone 6 & 6 plusThis will, of course, require hardware changes for Square’s payment systems, such as its mobile card reader. New hardware will be introduced to the firm’s card reader in order to give it NFC capabilities. NFC technology currently makes up the backbone of mobile payments and there are a growing number of services that use this technology to process transactions. The issue, however, is that the Apple Pay service will only work with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. That may change in the future, however, and Square’s upgraded card module may be able to give NFC capabilities to older versions of the iPhone.

Demand for mobile payment services among small businesses is on the rise

Square’s support of Apple Pay may make the payment service more attractive to small businesses. These businesses have an interest in mobile commerce, but have relatively few options available to them when it comes to engaging mobile shoppers. Many services are designed with large retailers in mind, ignoring smaller organizations that also want to use them.

Minority of consumers want to make mobile payments during the holidays

| November 25, 2014

New survey shows that 30% of smartphone users plan to make mobile payments in stores

The holiday season is rapidly approaching and retailers expect to see a great deal of activity in the mobile commerce space. Some may be too cavalier with their expectations, however, as a new survey from Stratos suggests that mobile shopping is only an interest to the minority of consumers. The survey found that 30% of smartphone users plan to pay for products in physical stores using Apple Pay or Google Wallet.

The demand for in-store payment support is rising, but consumers are slow to respond to new services

In-store mobile payments are still rare, but retailers have been investing heavily in bolstering the infrastructure to support these payments over the past year. Many retailers want to see consumers use their mobile devices in their stores, expediting the checkout process and taking advantage of the mobile services that these retailers have employed. Consumers may be more prone to shop online with their mobile devices, however, rather than use their devices to purchase products in physical stores.

Lack of awareness among consumers may be the reason behind slow adoption

Mobile Payments - Holdiay SeasonThe survey also found that 69% of consumers do not know which retailers actually accept mobile payments in their stores. Many retailers have been sluggish in promoting their mobile commerce services, which has lead to a lack of awareness among consumers. Some retailers are not convinced that mobile commerce is a worthwhile investment. While they have taken moves to support mobile payments, they have only done so to accommodate consumer demand to a modest degree.

Consumers may favor mobile commerce as a way to avoid having their payment cards lost or stolen

The survey found that the most popular reason consumers would use mobile payments was to limit the threat of having their credit or debit card stolen. During the holidays, stores become packed with shoppers. Some seek to exploit the financial information of others by stealing their payment cards. In other cases, the commotion at stores can cause people to misplace and lose their payment cards. While mobile devices are not theft proof, consumers often keep a better handle on their smartphones than their payment cards.