Apple Pay will launch October, turns your iPhone into a secure payment platform

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Apple Pay will launch October, turns your iPhone into a secure payment platform
Apple announced Apple Pay, a new service for iPhone owners that aims to introduce an "easy, secure and private way to pay". Apple Pay works with iPhone® 6 and iPhone 6 Plus through a system comprised of an NFC antenna, a dedicated chip called the Secure Element, and the now familiar Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Apple Pay will also work with the Apple Watch.

Apple Pay is designed for ease of settomg up, so users can simply add their credit or debit card on file from their iTunes Store® account. They only have to snap a photo of it through the iSight camera, Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, issued by the most popular banks including Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo. Over 258 Apple retail stores in the US will support Apple Pay, including Bloomingdale’s, Disney Store and Walt Disney World Resort, Duane Reade, Macy’s, McDonald’s, Sephora, Staples, Subway, Walgreens and Whole Foods Market. The Apple Watch will also work at the over 220,000 merchant locations across the US that support contact-less payment enabled. Apple Pay is also able to make purchases through apps in the App Store℠.

Apple SVP Eddy Cue personally explained how secure the platform is. “Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay." - said the SVP. "When you’re using Apple Pay in a store, restaurant or other merchant, cashiers will no longer see your name, credit card number or security code, helping to reduce the potential for fraud.” “Apple doesn’t collect your purchase history, so we don’t know what you bought, where you bought it or how much you paid for it. And if your iPhone is lost or stolen, you can use Find My iPhone to quickly suspend payments from that device.” - he added. When you add a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and stored in a secure memory location on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique number using your Device Account Number as an Apple Pay-generated dynamic security code is used in place of the secure code on the back of the card.

Online shopping in apps is also part of the easy paying fun. Checkout is supposed to happen with a single touch, so there’s no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information, and card details are kept private and are not shared with the online merchant.

Starting in October, with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay will reach the US as a free update to iOS 8. The service will have an open API, so developers will be able to integrate the system in their products.


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