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I worked in the mobile industry back in 2010s. Every carrier had big shiny projects called "mobile payments" going on. They were exploring, together with bankin

by baxtr 5y ago

I worked in the mobile industry back in 2010s. Every carrier had big shiny projects called "mobile payments" going on. They were exploring, together with banking partners how they could revolutionize contactless payments. A key factor why all these project failed wasn't the technology. As you rightly point out, the technology was already available back then. It was mainly the vast differences in business models in the two industries: telcos and banking. The telcos were spoiled back then and expected any service to deliver a margin of at least 30%. Banks operated on a very different operating margin for the transactions. They never got that reconciled. I remember back when Apple introduced Apple Pay many people were stunned by how little they charged. But in the end, that was their key insight to make this work. Quite impressive from a company with very high margins on their core products.

HWR_14 5y ago
Given transaction volumes, I imagine Apple will make more money from Apple Pay than the App Store soon, even with an order of magnitude smaller rake.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
bduerst 5y ago
Honestly, I think it was Apple refusing to fully support NFC until 2016 that prevented the market from jumping on contactless payments, at least in the US. They were holding something like a third of the market back from doing it which really made selling adoption to merchants difficult.
- pdpi 5y ago
  Contactless bank cards were widespread in the UK before Apple or Google had their own payment systems. I think the "real story", as it were, is that the banking industry held contactless payments way more than Apple ever did.
  - bduerst 5y ago
    Right, and with the advent of NFC in phones, US consumers didn't need the banks' permission to pay contactlessly. Despite this, contactless payment adoption was still slow in the U.S. even though most phones had NFC, it wasn't critical mass until Apple finally decided to support NFC technology.
    - closeparen 5y ago
      You do actually need the bank's permission to enroll a card for Apple/Android Pay, it is a feature they have to support.
      - bduerst 5y ago
        It is today with different added features, but back in the 2010s you didn't need your bank to support it. You could do it with your VISA/Mastercard/AMEX credit or debit card.
        lmm 5y ago
        In what country? I tried to add my cards to Google Pay the day it came out and some were allowed and others weren't.
        bduerst 5y ago
        That's probably because Google Pay was second gen w/ additional features. Google Wallet accepted all my bank (credit union) debit and credit cards.
    - Jcowell 5y ago
      I would argue it was a myriad of factors. Here in NY the adoption of OMNY and the pandemic contributed far more than Apple rolling out Tap to pay. The biggest issue being merchants lacking having the motivation to move away from outdated readers.
  - rattlesnakedave 5y ago
- baxtr 5y ago
  Apple never played a significant role in any project since their install base was just too small. Apple is a company with a clear focus. They didn’t even support MMS in the first iPhone. Rightly so.

by baxtr 5y ago

HWR_14 5y ago

Given transaction volumes, I imagine Apple will make more money from Apple Pay than the App Store soon, even with an order of magnitude smaller rake.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

bduerst 5y ago

Honestly, I think it was Apple refusing to fully support NFC until 2016 that prevented the market from jumping on contactless payments, at least in the US. They were holding something like a third of the market back from doing it which really made selling adoption to merchants difficult.

pdpi 5y ago
Contactless bank cards were widespread in the UK before Apple or Google had their own payment systems. I think the "real story", as it were, is that the banking industry held contactless payments way more than Apple ever did.
- bduerst 5y ago
  Right, and with the advent of NFC in phones, US consumers didn't need the banks' permission to pay contactlessly. Despite this, contactless payment adoption was still slow in the U.S. even though most phones had NFC, it wasn't critical mass until Apple finally decided to support NFC technology.
  - closeparen 5y ago
    You do actually need the bank's permission to enroll a card for Apple/Android Pay, it is a feature they have to support.
    - bduerst 5y ago
      It is today with different added features, but back in the 2010s you didn't need your bank to support it. You could do it with your VISA/Mastercard/AMEX credit or debit card.
      - lmm 5y ago
        In what country? I tried to add my cards to Google Pay the day it came out and some were allowed and others weren't.
        bduerst 5y ago
        That's probably because Google Pay was second gen w/ additional features. Google Wallet accepted all my bank (credit union) debit and credit cards.
  - Jcowell 5y ago
    I would argue it was a myriad of factors. Here in NY the adoption of OMNY and the pandemic contributed far more than Apple rolling out Tap to pay. The biggest issue being merchants lacking having the motivation to move away from outdated readers.
- rattlesnakedave 5y ago
baxtr 5y ago
Apple never played a significant role in any project since their install base was just too small. Apple is a company with a clear focus. They didn’t even support MMS in the first iPhone. Rightly so.