MasterCard has announced that they will be bringing Apple Pay to the PGA Tour. Golf fans will be able to use Apple's contactless payment feature later this week during the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Phoenix Open will be the first PGA Tour stop to accept Apple Pay, and customers using it with their MasterCards will be eligible for MasterCard's Priceless Surprise rewards, according to Business Wire:

The acceptance of easy-to-use contactless payments, fully integrated into concession technology, is just the beginning of how MasterCard and the PGA TOUR are delivering an enhanced experience to golf spectators. MasterCard cardholders who use Apple Pay at supported course concessions during the Waste Management Phoenix Open – which begins Thursday, January 29th on The Golf Channel – may also get a Priceless Surprise!

Apple Pay first made its debut in October 2014, and is currently available in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Source: Business Wire

Apple Pay support is expanding yet again, this time to nearly 200,000 self-service machines (i.e. vending machines) across the United States. The machines, run by USA Technologies, have all been remotely updated to support the contactless payment system Apple introduced with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

But it's not just vending machines that are getting the Apple Pay treatment:

This immediately adds approximately 200,000 Apple Pay acceptance points to the growing list of locations officially supporting Apple Pay, bringing the advanced mobile payments service to owners and operators of coffee brewers, vending machines, kiosks, laundry equipment, parking pay stations and other self-serve appliances.

Yes, parking meters, coffee brewers, and more, all just waiting for your NFC. And this has all be remotely-enabled, as USA Technologies notes, they've been putting NFC chips in their systems for the past decade. Pretty much any machine that you see bearing their "ePort" payment now will accept payments via Apple Pay. So go, get thee a bottle of Diet Coke and pay for it with your phone.

Source: USA Technologies; Via: 9to5Mac

Apple Pay, the Touch ID-authenticated in-store and online payment service Apple started rolling out last October, has been growing steadily in terms of bank and retailer support. During Apple's Q1 2015 conference call, CEO Tim Cook said the company was getting "extremely positive" feedback on Apple Pay from both individuals and institutions. That wasn't his biggest endorsement, however — it was calling 2015 the "year of Apple Pay".

Not too long ago, Apple called 2011 the "year of the iPad 2," and that product went on to establish the category and prove experience wins the technology fight. In some ways, Apple Pay has more work ahead of it than the iPad did: It's not yet international, it's dependent on financial institutions and retailers in a way far beyond traditional carrier and reseller relationships, and it has to educate people and politicians wary of electronic transactions or who are beholden to other interests.

Yet Apple Pay promises banks better security, retailers more efficient checkouts, and customers both security and efficiency. That makes it compelling.

From our Q1 2015 Tim Cook transcript, here's what he had to say:

Today, about 750 banks and credit unions have signed on to bring Apple Pay to their customers, and in just three months after launch, Apple Pay makes up more than two out of three dollars spent on purchases using contactless payments across the three major U.S. card networks.

More merchants are excited to bring Apple Pay to their customers, and adoption is strong. Just today, USA Technologies announced they made Apple Pay available at about 200,000 places where everyday payments happen, including vending machines in businesses, airports, and schools; commercial laundry machines in colleges, universities, and laundromats; and parking meters and payment kiosks in lots across the country.

In contrast, here's what Jason Del Ray of Recode brings up as some of the challenges Apple Pay faces, even in the U.S.:

Apple needs to continue to sign up merchants to accept Apple Pay, so that shoppers don't have to guess where they can use it. Right now, some of the country's largest retailers, such as CVS, Walmart and Target, refuse to accept Apple Pay in their stores in part because they are backing a competing app called CurrentC.

That feels more like a bump than a barrier. Customers are used to not knowing if American Express, Diner's Club, Discover Card, or other transactional services will be available at any given store. Some stores don't take credit cards at all, and others remain cash-only businesses. It's annoying but it's expected in today's shopping environment.

Target already takes Apple Pay in-app, so it's not hard to imagine it'll go in-store as soon as legally possible.

Of the merchants obligated to CurrentC, the still un-launched Walmart-backed QR-code scanning payment service, some of them signed up years ago on spec and their exclusivity agreements will soon begin to expire. A few, like Target, already take Apple Pay in-app, so it's not hard to imagine it'll go in-store as soon as legally possible.

Walmart could remain a self-interested holdout, but customers can go elsewhere if it better suits their interests, or we can use other methods at Walmart the way those of us with American Express cards use other methods at VISA and/or MasterCard-only retailers.

Recode's Del Ray also includes loyalty programs and enhanced security as necessary steps to increase Apple Pay adoption, though the security issues he cites are on the banks' end, not Apple's, and seem part-and-parcel with larger steps banks need to take to combat fraud in general.

What makes me so bullish about Apple Pay is this: in-store, it currently requires an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, which Apple sold 74.5 million of last quarter. Yet that number represents only a portion of the billion iOS devices sold to date. Apple will continue to sell more iPhones 6 and future iPhones, but come April the company will also start selling the Apple Watch.

With the Apple Watch, in-store Apple Pay will also become available to the hundred-plus million iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s owners. That increases the potential user base for Apple Pay in both directions — not only for future devices, but for past ones as well. The Apple Watch will also be new and it will be fun, and just like loyalty programs, both of those things tend to drive adoption.

With the Apple Watch, in-store Apple Pay will also become available to the hundred-plus million iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s owners.

Also, rumors of Apple Pay rollouts in the U.K. and Canada persist, and there's no doubt the service will eventually go international. Many countries outside the U.S. have widespread infrastructure already in place for contactless payments; for years now I've been able to use my NFC-chipped Canadian credit and debit card to tap-to-pay at retailers like Sears, restaurants like McDonalds, major gas stations, and more.

Moving to Apple Pay should be incredibly easy here, and I expect that to be true in other mature contactless payment markets. That will only add to the acceleration and mass, and then it starts to become a virtuous cycle for everyone.

There are no guarantees in technology and even less in retail, of course. Given where Apple has taken Pay in just three months, however, and Tim Cook's confidence on the conference call, 2015 could very easily be the year of Apple Pay.

And that wouldn't just be good for Apple. It would be good for us all.

Apple Pay— or Pay — launched in October of 2014 as part of iOS 8.1. It enabled the NFC-based tap-to-pay system in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and the online payment system in both iPhones 6 and the iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2. While it hasn't yet rolled out internationally, Apple Pay has expanded to more banks, retailers, and apps in the U.S. We went in-store with it at launch, but how's Apple Pay doing now, some three months later?

Apple Pay and banks

Peter: My bank was there on day one, and I had absolutely no problem signing up my debit card in Apple Pay. I know a lot of other people haven't been as lucky. One of the few times I've been happy to be with my giant, monolithic, massively unfriendly and expensive bank.

Ally: I have lots of different cards in Apple Pay and for the most part I've had zero problem. Everything works as I'd expect it to. However, a month or so ago I restored my iPhone 6 Plus and since then I haven't been able to get one of my cards added back. The recent iOS update that was supposed to address that particular Apple Pay issue unfortunately hasn't worked for me either. Calls to my issuer haven't helped either.

Ren: I'm with Peter — I was lucky in that my major debit and credit cards all supported Apple Pay at launch, and I've had no real problems with them. (Though the initial add process did require a couple of random steps, including sending confirmation codes to a phone number I haven't had on file in four years.)

Apple Pay at retail

Peter: I've used Apple Pay a precious few times and it's worked out quite well, but I have to be frank: I don't shop at most of the places it's taken. The places I do shop most frequently, including my grocery store and my pharmacy, aren't yet signed up. So Apple Pay has, for me anyway, been an interesting curiosity. But it really hasn't moved into a daily use for me yet.

Ally: When actually using Apple Pay, the process is painless. Just tap and done. The only time I've found the process slightly odd is when using self checkouts. The ones are our local grocery stores are a little finicky and don't always seem to activate tap payments. Other than that, the experience has been pleasant.

Ren: I used Apple Pay a lot when it first launched, in part for novelty, but I've really grown to love using it. My pharmacy and three grocery stores in my area take it, and I keep on running into other places that take it. (For awhile, I'd tap my iPhone at any register that looked like it might take contactless payments… just in case.)

Apple Pay in-apps

Peter: I actually haven't used Apple Pay in apps once. I admit I'm on a limited budget to begin with, so I don't do a lot of in-app shopping anyway, but it really hasn't come up for me even as a possibility.

Ally: I've only used Apple Pay with the Apple Store app when purchasing a case for my iPhone 6 Plus. It was a heck of a lot easier than entering all my details or having to change them from what is in my iTunes account. I'm sure I'll end up using it more and more as different merchants start supporting the functionality.

Ren: I've actually started using Panera's in-app Apple Pay to place advance orders rather than wait in line — it's much faster, and there's no hassle about finding a payment option to input into my iPhone, since my credit card info is already stored. (It's also an easy way for my purchases to count toward Panera's loyalty program, as in-store Apple Pay doesn't register that you're a member without flashing your MyPanera card.)

I've used the Apple Store's app to buy things while in the store, as well, but it feels a lot weirder to use than Panera's or Target's; I'm guessing that's because I'm actually in the store, but not dealing with people.

Apple Pay evolution

Rene: Canada! (You expected nothing less, and I would not disappoint!). Seriously, though. International rollout feels inevitable. So does support for loyalty programs. I don't know if there would ever be Apple Point, redeemable for iTunes credit, but I'd love to my Lego VIP card in there. Also, there's the whole world of consumer-to-consumer transactions to get into. People have been begging for a PayPal alternative for years. Maybe Apple Pay could be just that?

Ren: Though I haven't spent much time abroad in the last three months, I would love for Apple Pay to take hold in Canada and the UK; I'm planning trips to both in the near future, and it would be swell to not have to worry about my wallet while traveling.

And though I don't think the company's "Year of Apple Pay" will be doomed without loyalty cards or frequent customer attachments, I'd really like to be able to connect things like my Panera card to my purchases there — right now, it's easier to order in advance through the app than pay in-store with Apple Pay and then pull out my Panera card.

Finally, more merchants supporting it. I wish CurrentC would die in a fiery pit, but at the least, some of its supporters are aging out of their original exclusivity contracts — hopefully that means we'll see retailers like Target (who already support Apple Pay in-app) using the in-store kiosks, as well.

Peter: MOAR VENDORS. Apple Pay has already succeeded where other digital payment systems have failed, but it's nothing approaching critical mass. Major retailers still don't have support for Apple Pay, and many banks don't either. It's also a complete non-entity outside the United States.

Bottom line

Peter: Apple Pay is everything I wanted in a mobile payment system: Elegant, fast, secure. If Apple can get the entire world using it, more the better. In the interim, Apple Pay is still squarely a novelty for me. I use it whenever I can, but for what I've been spending money on since it was introduced, that's not that much.

Rene: I share Tim Cook's bullishness on the future of Apple Pay. It does so many things right that, given enough time, adoption, and propagation, I think it could fundamentally transform how I pay for things on a daily basis. It could end up being a bigger deal than even the current crop of devices because it's not just another device — it's another service for all devices.

Ren: Using Apple Pay is awesome and keeps me from pulling out my credit card all the time, but it's not so widespread that I can just leave my wallet at home. I'm hoping 2015 is the year enough of my merchants begin accepting Apple Pay that I can consider actually going phone-only and saving some of that pocket space for, say, an extra battery for my iPhone. I also wouldn't mind some sort of loyalty program integration. (Fingers crossed!)

Ally: I love the idea of Apple Pay and what it offers. The only barrier is merchants adopting it within the United States. It's kind of ironic since it's only available in the the US yet our country is pathetically behind when it comes to NFC and payment technology in general. Let's hope the next year or so changes that.

Apple Pay has signed up another 14 banks to support the contactless transactions system build into the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The addition of new banks, which include Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank with more than six million customers and two million at INOVA Federal Credit Union, bring the total number of banks offering Apple Pay support to 54.

Here's the full list of banks that picked up Apple Pay support today:

• Alliant Credit Union
• Altra Federal Credit Union
• Andrews Federal Credit Union
• BBVA Compass
• BECU (Boeing Employees' Credit Union)
• Ent Federal Credit Union
• Fifth Third Bank
• First Niagara Bank
• First Tech Federal Credit Union
• Golden 1 Credit Union
• INOVA Federal Credit Union
• Savings Bank of Danbury
• Star One Credit Union
• Uwharrie Bank

Source: Apple; Via: 9to5Mac

Apple Pay brought together everything from Passbook to Touch ID to launch Apple into the mobile transaction business. It was the company's first major new product category since the iPad and its been expanding steadily in the U.S. since October. As a service, Apple Pay is compelling enough that Android owners should consider switching to iPhone. It offers better security, efficiency, and experience for everyone along the chain, from banks to retailers to customers. And it could also be the first of those kinds of services "only Apple" is positioned to provide. Matt Richman:

Google does not control Android enough to create anything truly comparable to Apple Pay. Even if Google were able to add Apple Pay's software components to Android, the company would have to rely on its hardware partners to replicate Touch ID and the secure element and to seamlessly integrate everything together. They're not going to be able to do that for the foreseeable future.

So that's the strategic significance of Apple Pay — it's the first time Apple leveraged its strengths to create a highly profitable yet uncopyable service that is destined for success.

Ben Bajarin, writing for Tech.pinions, highlights the value, and how it applies to other services as well:

Apple Pay is a great example of [services innovation]. As I mentioned before, retailers are jumping on board for many reasons but one of the largest is attracting Apple's customers to their stores. Similarly, when we talk to companies looking to support HealthKit and HomeKit, we hear from the services companies like health, security, etc., that they want Apple's customers.

The same way Apple Pay makes for a better transactional service for everyone involved, HealthKit, HomeKit, and CarPlay could make for better healthcare information, home automation, and driving services. (Entertainment and other areas could likewise follow.) Apple won't need to be a data company, appliance manufacturer, or car maker, any more than they need to be a bank, but they'll be able to ensure their customers get better packaged, more accessible, more approachable, and more enjoyable experiences in all those areas.

And that once again raises the value of owning an iPhone.

Several months after the US launch of Apple Pay for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, one of its biggest launch supporters, American Express, is hyping up the use of Apple's payment system in a new TV commercial. At the same time, the ad also takes a nostalgic look back at classic American Express commercials.

The ad has snippets of a bunch of older ads, including many of those great "Don't Leave Home Without It" commercials. Celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Jackie Chan and others are shown whipping out their cards. The new ad then concludes with an ordinary consumer whipping out his iPhone 6, with his American Express information loaded on Apple Pay, to purchase an item. The idea is that this is the "next evolution" of paying with things with an American Express card.

Source: American Express (YouTube)

Passengers flying with JetBlue will soon be able to pay for food, drink, on-board entertainment and even upgrade to premium seating using Apple Pay. The program will start next week on select JetBlue flights, making it that much easier to make payments at 35,000 feet, and support for Apple Watch will also be available when launched later this year. According to USA Today:

The carrier is swapping older mobile payment terminals for specially outfitted iPad Minis with NFC-capable cases that are being issued to more than 3,500 inflight crewmembers. The Federal Aviation Administration had to approve the new iPads before they could be used onboard. The iPads can also accept conventional plastic credit cards to accommodate passengers without the latest iPhone or smartwatch.

These iPads also contain a wealth of data for crew members, as well as providing the tools to cater for customers who wish to make payment. Everything works as one would expect when making a payment through Apple Pay inside a store. The airline plans to bring Apple Pay to all JetBlue flights by June.

We're sure it'll be a much improved experience for passengers who will now be able to use their iPhone with Apple Pay, instead of hunting down their wallets and purses in stowed away luggage.

Source: USA Today

Users of the Starbucks app now have an additional option when it comes to reloading their digital Starbucks card: Apple Pay. Starbucks previously support credit and debit cards as well as PayPal accounts. But both depended on storing your information in the app. Apple Pay, obviously, doesn't do that, instead generating a unique one-time-use card number for each transaction.

Here's what all is new in the latest update:

• You can now use Apple Pay to quickly reload your Starbucks Card. Touch ID makes it faster than ever.
• By popular demand, the menu is enhanced. When you browse our menu you'll now find additional calorie information on menu items.

There's just one caveat to the Apple Pay integration: it only works with manual reloads. Since Apple Pay is tightly integrated with Touch ID and requires your authenticated fingerprint to permit payment, Starbucks's automatic reload of cards won't work. But for those that have opted to go the manual route, you've now got one more option topping off your card before you top off your caffeine.

• Free - Download Now

The federal government of the United States is picking up support for Apple Pay, on both sides of the equation. Not only are Apple Pay-compatible payment terminals coming to your friendly neighborhood federal government agency office, but the federal government is poised to start paying for things with Apple Pay as well.

The federal government actually has their own credit cards to employees for official expenses (GSA SmartPay from the General Services Administration) as well as Direct Express debit cards given to those receiving Social Security and veterans benefits payments. And the government's working on making those cards Apple Pay compatible.

So all the parties involved are working to make this happen:

Apple, Visa, MasterCard, Comerica Bank and U.S. Bank are committed to working together to make Apple Pay, a tokenized, encrypted service, available for users of federal payment cards, including DirectExpress and GSA SmartPay cards.

As you can imagine, with the federal government involved this likely won't happen quickly or simply. Your author has used a GSA SmartPay card before to purchase fuel for a government vehicle and, let me tell you, it's a process (there's a code on the card that you have to enter at the pump, and it also demands the mileage of the vehicle that's associated with that card — yes, the card's issued to a vehicle and not a person). But it's a good sign to see even the federal government looking at an emerging technology like contactless payments and wanting to hop on the bandwagon.

Source: White House; Via: Bloomberg

Today saw the United States federal government announce that they intend to support Apple Pay with their own payment cards, but a more consumer-facing Apple Pay implementation is coming as well later this year. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking at a cyber security summit organized by the White House, various branches of the federal government will start accepting Apple Pay payments in September.

Yes, you might get to pay for your next visit to Yosemite National Park (the real one, not the OS X version with Apple Pay. Apart from the National Park Service, other agencies and institutions of the government including the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, stamps at the United States Postal Service, fees to Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the gift shop at the Kennedy Space Center could all be poised to accept Apple's contactless payments system by the end of the year. But probably not your taxes.

Source: Re/code

Apple has reportedly run into a few roadblocks in its efforts to bring Apple Pay to China. The company has been in negotiations to bring the payment system over, but they are apparently facing delays due to resistance from regulators and UnionPay, China's credit and debit card system operator.

For Chinese regulators, there are questions as to whether Apple Pay meets government standards for operation in the country, while talks with UnionPay that would open the operator's system to Apple Pay appear to be on hold.

From MarketWatch:

Apple is also struggling with its relationship with UnionPay, China's state-owned credit- and debit-card system operator. Sources close to the companies said that talks aimed at an agreement that would open China to Apple Pay have stalled.

At least one of the issues that seems to be holding up Apple Pay's entry into China is technical. The chips behind the system are evidently not fully compatible with UnionPay NFC hardware requirements:

To qualify for access to any NFC system in China, according to regulators with the central bank, Apple Pay must comply with a central bank rule that restricts electronic payment systems to those using chips that meet a technical standard called PBOC 3.0. A source familiar with Apple Pay said iPhone chips that drive the payment system do not fully comply with this standard.

Additionally, the Chinese government has apparently demanded that Apple maintain a data center on mainland China for all Chinese Apple Pay customer information.

Assuming the company can clear the regulatory hurdles, there's no telling when Apple Pay might launch in China, though Apple was reportedly aiming for some point in March.

Source: MarketWatch

Staples is clearly noticing the benefits of being one of the first retailers to enable Apple Pay, as VP of mobile commerce Prat Vemana announced today that the payment solution accounted for 30 percent of all purchases made through the retailer's iOS app.

According to Vemana:

Right now it's the number one payment method for us in our iOS apps. Apple Pay has been one of the most successful implementations when it comes to payments.

Introducing the payment solution also led to new customer acquisition, as the executive noted that 65 percent of Apple Pay transactions were done by first-time customers to Staples when the service was introduced in October. Vemana also revealed that while Staples app usage is almost evenly split between iOS and Android, 70 percent of the mobile revenue comes from Apple users.

While Staples benefitted from in-app payments via Apple Pay, the same cannot be said for in-store purchases. Vemana did not disclose any specific numbers, only stating that while a "healthy" number of people have used Apple Pay's touchless payments in stores, it was not in the top three payment types for purchases made within physical stores.

Source: FierceMobileIT

Another week, another batch of banks signing on to offer Apple Pay support for their customers' credit and debit cards. This time we're looking at 19 new banks, with the big one definitely being Morgan Stanley. The newest additions bring the total number of banks supporting Apple Pay to 90, offering millions of customers the opportunity to make payments with their iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus securely and without having to pull out their old-fashioned plastic card.

Here are the newest banks:

• Affinity Federal Credit Union
• Cabela's CLUB
• Central Bank
• Credit Union of Southern California
• Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach
• First National Bank of Omaha
• First Sentry Bank
• FirstBank
• Grow Financial Federal Credit Union
• Ideal Credit Union
• Morgan Stanley
• Redwood Credit Union
• State Department Federal Credit Union
• Teachers Credit Union
• Technology Credit Union
• The Northern Trust Company
• TIB-The Independent BankersBank
• United Federal Credit Union
• Utah First Federal Credit Union

With so many banks signing on to support (and so many iPhones out there offering that support with ease), we have little expectation that the momentum behind Apple Pay will slow any time soon. For the full list of banks supporting Apple Pay, check out the source link below.

Source: Apple; Via: 9to5Mac

It looks like Apple is about to get some new competition in the mobile payments arena from Samsung. The company announced today that it will acquire LoopPay, an Apple Pay competitor that works with existing magnetic strip readers.

From Samsung:

LoopPay has built an advanced and widely accepted contactless payment solution using its patented Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology. LoopPay's talent and technology, paired with Samsung's world leading mobile technology, global presence, and distribution capabilities will help drive the next wave of innovation in the digital smart wallet.

If you're unfamiliar with LoopPay, the company uses a technology wirelessly transmits data that would normally be stored on your card's magnetic strip to a store's payment terminal. Currently the company only has its technology embedded in a few hardware products, including a fob and a LoopPay phone case.

There's no doubt that when Apple released its Apple Pay platform last fall, it brought a certain heft to the sector. However, it will be interesting to see what, if any, effect Samsung's acquisition of LoopPay has on the mobile payments scene.

Source: LoopPay

Press Release:

There's never been a better time to switch to iPhone. Whether you're tempted for yourself or looking to help the Android user in your life, the all-new, all-better iPhone 6 and iPhone-6-plus make the move more compelling than ever — especially when you consider Touch ID and Apple Pay.

First to 64-bit

A decade ago, if you'd told anyone Apple would be designing the most advanced chipsets in any area or for anything, your'd have been laughed at. Apple isn't Intel. They're not Qualcomm or Samsung. They've not been making chipsets for years, and they're definitely not the company most people would think of when they think of chipsets. And that might just be why Apple got to 64-bit first in mobile.

Conventional "wisdom" held that 64-bit processors for phones and tablets were still years way. Conventional chipset companies were in no hurry to obsolete the 32-bit silicon they were still selling in droves, and conventional vendors were in no way imaginative enough to see any potential more pressing than addressable RAM.

Apple thought differently. They saw 64-bit as something that gave their chips the cleaner, faster ARMv8 instruction set and more registers. They also saw the encryption it supported as a way to provide better security at much faster speeds and with much better efficiency.

The result was Cyclone, and here's what AnandTech had to say about it:

Looking at Cyclone makes one thing very clear: the rest of the players in the ultra mobile CPU space didn't aim high enough. I wonder what happens next round.

This year came Cyclone 2. While competitors were struggling to get their first generation 64-bit chipsets out the door, Apple was already shipping their second. With two billion transistors, it still managed to be 50% more efficient, making it faster but also better on battery life.

Fingerprint readers for real

Apple's custom processors also brought with them co-processors. The M-series keeps track of motion data, from acceleration to direction, rotation, elevation, and more. The secure enclave, however, enabled Touch ID.

Touch ID is a biometric fingerprint identify sensor. Fingerprint readers had been used on both computers and phones for years, but they relied on horrible, swipe-based technology that didn't really work.

Touch ID relies on better technology, and it works really well. When a capacitive ring around the Home button detects your finger, it activates the scanner. The scanner takes a high-resolution picture of your fingerprint that's converted into a mathematical formula, encrypted, and carried over a hardware channel to the secure enclave on the chipset. If the fingerprint is recognized, a "yes" token is released.

Based on that token, your identity will be confirmed, your purchases will be authorize, or your credentials will be released. That way, you can unlock your phone, buy music, movies, and apps, securely access your bank account, or fill in your passwords, and more. Best of all — Touch ID fast. Lightning fast.

It's also far ahead of anything else available. According to the Telegraph, Touch ID was so far ahead it caused Motorola to abandon plans to ship a fingerprint sensor of their own:

The secret behind [the dimple on the back of the Nexus 6] is that it was supposed to be fingerprint recognition, and Apple bought the best supplier. So the second best supplier was the only one available to everyone else in the industry and they weren't there yet.

Security is often said to be at war with convenience. Touch ID, for the first time, gives you both.

Dawn of the digital wallet

Apple Pay lets you store your credit card data on a secure element and access it with a passcode or, more easily and quickly, Touch ID. Apple Pay is currently supported by 750 banks and credit unions in the U.S. and can be used in one of two ways:

• You can pay with it at hundreds of thousands of contactless payment terminals — i.e. NFC tap-to-pay registers — including retail stores, kiosks, vending machines, parking meters, and similar locations.

• You can use it in compatible apps to pay for any online purchases you make.

Instead of handing over your actual credit card information, Apple Pay provides only a one-time number instead. That helps protect against fraud, both in-store and online.

Here's what one of our readers, Rainforrest, had to say:

Sold my HTC One M8 on ebay after I got my iPhone 6 Plus.. Touch ID and Apple Pay are really nice and apps are of better quality on iOS than on Android.

Reader Brad Littler added:

Apple pay makes me actually want to use my phone to pay for things where as it was a harder sell on on Android (Mostly because all my transactions were obfuscated under some mastercard charge).

Being able to leave your wallet — and your worries — at home and pay with your phone has always been the dream. With Apple Pay, it's coming closer and closer to reality. More banks, retailers, and establishments are being added all the time, and it's tough not to imagine it won't go international as soon as it possibly can.

Time to switch!

Apple can be conservative when it comes to things that reduce battery life. When it comes to providing the most advanced technologies, however, especially when they improve performance, power efficiency, and security, Apple races ahead. That's great news for consumers, because it means we can get an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 not only with an incredibly fast Apple A8 processor, but with Touch ID and Apple Pay as well. And those are just two of the benefits of switching to iPhone.

• iPhone 6 review
• iPhone 6 Plus review
• iPhone buyers guide
• Switch to iPhone guide

Visa has announced the payment company will be introducing support for the same tokenization system used by Apple Pay by mid-April. This move will add a new way for Europeans to pay with their smartphones, all whilst keeping their card details secure and concealed. According to the announcement:

"The tokenisation service protects customer data, substituting the payment account information found on a plastic card with a series of numbers that can be used to authorise payment without exposing actual account details. When consumers use their mobile device to make a contactless payment in a store, a token is submitted, rather than their account details."

Visa is working to maintain its position as a middle man between the consumer at the banks, and will pave way for payment gateways to make use of more secure contactless transactions. There's still no word on exactly when Apple plans to launch its service in Europe, but with things being set into motion, it can't be long.

Source: Visa, via: The Next Web

It seems that Apple Pay has really, well, payed off for Chase Bank. The company announced today that over 1 million of its customers have started using their credit or debit cards with Apple's payment platform since its launch last fall.

The numbers were released during Chase's 2015 Investor Day earlier today. Along with the numbers, however, Chase also released some charts about how its customers are using the service. Perhaps most interesting bit is a chart that shows that Chase customers using Apple Pay are, on average, younger with higher incomes.

These numbers follow a similar statement given by Bank of America last month, in which it noted that 800,000 of its customers have used Apple Pay since its launch. In addition, the number of bank adding support for Apple Pay doesn't seem to be slowing down, with the most recent expansion bringing the total up to 90.

Source: JPMorgan Chase; Via: Apple Insider

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners can now walk into a Firehouse Subs location and purchase their big and juicy sub sandwiches via Apple Pay.

The company said this week that it is now rolling out support for Apple Pay in all of its 860 locations in the US. It added:

Firehouse Subs offers guests the option to make mobile payments from their iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and soon Apple Watch, bringing a faster and more convenient experience.

Firehouse Subs was founded in 1994 by two former firemen in 1994 in Jacksonville, Florida. It specializes in serving hot sub sandwiches and its locations typically display a lot of firefighter equipment. This announcement shows that more and more companies are adding Apple Pay support for their customers, such as JetBlue, Staples and Walgreens.

Source: Firehouse Subs

Apple Pay is so secure criminals so far have only been able take advantage of it by taking advantage of the banks behind it.

Sadly, identity theft and credit card fraud are nothing new. While Apple Pay does an enormous amount to secure the transaction process itself — merchants are given a one-time number instead of the card number to prevent expose in the case of data breach, for example — securing the banking process against basic social engineering attacks is something else entirely. When reached for comment, Apple told me:

"Apple Pay is designed to be extremely secure and protect a user's personal information," an Apple spokesperson told iMore. "During setup Apple Pay requires banks to verify each and every card and the bank then determines and approves whether a card can be added to Apple Pay. Banks are always reviewing and improving their approval process, which varies by bank."

Apple provided the same comment to the The Guardian following an article which reported:

Criminals in the US are using the new Apple Pay mobile payment system to buy high-value goods – often from Apple Stores – with stolen identities and credit card details.

Banks have been caught by surprise by the level of fraud, and the Guardian understands that some are scrambling to ensure that better verification and checking systems are put in place to prevent the problem running out of control, with around two million Americans already using the system.

There's absolutely no way banks have been "caught by surprise" by any of this, though. It's the same old social engineering attacks being used on banks in the exact same way.

It's absolutely a problem for banks and for people whose identities are stolen, but there's nothing to indicate it has anything to do with Apple Pay. Furthermore, no one should be alarmed about Apple Pay in this context. Just the opposite — Apple Pay appears to be so secure the only thing criminals can do is try and trick the banks at the other end of the chain.

What's more, Apple does a lot to help banks avoid approving illegitimate cards. Apple securely transmits encrypted iTunes account information from the iPhone to the bank. That includes the device name, phone number, last four digits of the card, etc.

Using that information, banks can determine whether or not they'll authorize the card for Apple Pay. Banks can also choose to require a text message, email, customer service call, etc. before authorizing. All of this is publicly detailed in Apple's iOS Security Guide.

Banks are responsible for determining the appropriate balance of convenience and security for their customers. The goal is to keep fraud at an acceptable level while ensuring customers aren't inconvenienced by jumping through a bunch of hoops to use a credit card. If the amount of fraudulent card activation occurring with the banks current authorization mechanisms is too great, they will correct this by adding additional steps to the manual authorization process when customers call into the bank.

The Guardian, to its credit, points this out:

US banks are using a "green path" for cards they approve straight away on such data, and a "yellow path" for cards requiring more checks. But some banks have made the task too simple by asking callers to verify their identity with the last four digits of their social security number (SSN).

Though meant to be secret, SSNs are commonly stolen in identity theft, and on average 11.5 million Americans are victims of identity fraud annually, according to US data, with the average incident costing $4,930. In 2013 total losses from ID fraud in the US totalled $24.7bn. Nearly two-thirds of cases involve credit card details.

The paper cites a Drop Labs post on "green" vs. "yellow" path which also includes the following:

Though what follows was written in the context of Apple Pay, much of it translates to any other competitor – irrespective of origin, scale, intent, or patron saint."

Again, this has nothing to do with Apple Pay. Hopefully the banks targeted, however, will figure out how to better make the call on who and how they authorize cards.