The Impact Of Apple Pay On The Retail IT Channel And POS Resellers

By Kevin Kogler, President, MicroBiz

By now, everyone in the reseller community should be aware of Apple Pay, Apple’s new mobile payment system. With Apple Pay, the actual credit and debit card numbers are not stored on the device nor on Apple servers. Instead, device account numbers, a new NFC (near field communication) antenna design, touch ID, a dedicated chip called the Secure Element, and dynamic security codes are utilized to keep transactions secure and protect account information.  Apple has also assembled a line-up of the major payment networks, gateway providers, and high profile retailers to support Apple Pay out of the gate. Apple is hoping that its scale and reputation will be the catalyst to reenergize mobile payment adoption, which to date has been quite disappointing.

Who Is InitiallyAligned With Apple?

Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major payment networks — American Express, MasterCard, and Visa. So, cards issued by banks with these card brands can be used with Apple Pay. 

Apple also announced an initial line-up of partner gateways/processors consisting of TSYS, Chase/Paymentech, First Data, Authorize.net, and Stripe.  Only these gateways will support Apple Pay at its launch.

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