“You need so many points of acceptance to make mobile payments work, and Apple has made that happen, striking partnerships with top national brands across a variety of categories that will give consumers plenty of opportunity to use the service,” says Carrington, who tracks the mobile payments market for Forrester. “That’s what’s distinctly different.”
Again, these merchants operate both online and off. You can pay in Subway shops and Whole Foods stores, and you can pay inside apps like Groupon and Tickets.com. Starbucks is on the list of merchants—but, as if to show the versatility of Apple’s service, it’s on the app side of things.
You could even argue that delineating “the app side of things” doesn’t do the service justice. Whether you’re paying in a store or in app, it works in much the same way: You press your finger to Touch ID, Apple’s fingerprint sensor, which verifies your identity. The only difference is that, if you’re in a store, you also hold your phone to a physical reader at the counter.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member