Apple has offered to open up the iPhone near-field communication (NFC) system that Apple Pay uses to other payment services, in a possible effort to...
Apple Pay charges much higher rates than competing payment processors.
Apple Pay isn’t a payment processor. It’s a system for banks to provisional additional cards on their customer’s devices, which are then processed the same way and for the same fees as tapping the physical card.
Banks want direct access to the NFC because they want to bully people into making their app the default handler for payment cards. One of the great things about Apple Pay is that all banks must compete as equals for every transaction. It’s trivially easy to switch which card you use when you pay and every card gets the same best user experience.
Forcing NFC open is, paradoxically, anti-competitive, because it makes it easier for the biggest banks to stop competing and instead lock their customers in.
Merchants do not have any relationship with Apple for Apple Pay transactions. You tap your phone and it’s treated the exact same way as when you tap your card. The merchant sends it to whoever they use for card processing, who eventually sends it to the card network (Visa, etc.) and to the bank for approval. That’s what payment processing is. Apple isn’t involved at any step. They are involved in the provisioning process where cards are added to your device.
Not correct. Apple doesn’t provide this service out of the kindness of their hearts. They charge 0.15% transaction fee.
Apple charges a fee to the issuing bank, which comes out of their share of the card processing fee paid by merchants. The original (2014) reported fee for US credit card transactions was 0.15%. Card processing fees are, in general, significantly cheaper in Europe (and indeed most other countries). We don’t even know if the US fee is still 0.15% but it definitely isn’t in the EU.
Have you literally done zero research into this? The vast majority of merchants in the US, and nearly 100% in many other countries, accept Apple Pay. Doesn’t that strike you as awfully high if they actually had to sign up for it with Apple? And add an entirely new payment processor to their operations?
Apple is not involved in any capacity with processing Apple Pay transactions when you tap your device in a business. A Visa card loaded on an iPhone is literally just a contactless Visa. Apple Pay = Google Pay = physical contactless card. One single industry-standard protocol.
For web/app transactions, a merchant has to set up Apple Pay explicitly (though it’s still actually processed by the same parties as entering the card number) but for in person, they just need contactless payments enabled on their card terminal. No extra steps, parties, or fees.
Hey, exciting to see people so passionate about this! The other user is correct that Apple is not involved with the processing of purchase transactions. Pulled this from LinkedIn:
Top portion is the provisioning flow, bottom portion is the purchase transaction flow. As you can see the transaction is between the customer, acquirer, card network, and issuing bank. Apple involvement not required as the card network does the work of decrypting the payment token.
So the other user’s statement that
Apple is not involved in any capacity with processing transactions when you tap your device in a business.
Bruh there is a giant icon that says “Apple servers” in that photo so I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Yes, that is correct. As I pointed out, the top flow in the graphic is the provisioning flow, the flow by which Apple Pay payment credentials (device primary account number, DPAN) are created.
The bottom flow is a purchase transaction flow, that’s what occurs when a user is making a purchase transaction at a store. There is no involvement from Apple Pay servers in processing those transactions. Credentials are sent from the device, to the point of sale terminal, to the acquirer, to the card network, to the card issuer, and back again.
It’s literally called “Apple Pay” and you’re gonna try to convince me that Apple has nothing to do with processing payments? Not likely.
In case you’re not just trolling, I encourage you to learn more about this topic. It’s pretty cool how Apple Pay works.
I feel like I’ve entered some Twilight Zone. You just keep repeating the same absurd claims about something but if you had ever researched it in any capacity you’d know how false those claims are.
No they don’t. The vast majority don’t even accept Apple, Google, or Samsung Pay, credit cards only.
Look, it’s really simple: If a store accepts contactless cards, it by definition accepts Apple Pay. They are the same thing to the merchant. There are zero merchants that take contactless cards but can’t take Apple Pay.
One great benefit of using Apple Pay is that it doesn’t cost business owners anything extra. Payment processors consider it a normal credit card transaction, so you’ll only pay regular card processing fees. The only upfront cost involved might be upgrading your POS terminal.
Once you have the right contactless payment-capable POS, there are no additional fees you, the merchant, will have to pay for using Apple Pay. As a business owner, you will pay the same credit card rates and fees as you would for a card-present transaction.
Apple Pay isn’t a payment processor. It’s a system for banks to provisional additional cards on their customer’s devices, which are then processed the same way and for the same fees as tapping the physical card.
Banks want direct access to the NFC because they want to bully people into making their app the default handler for payment cards. One of the great things about Apple Pay is that all banks must compete as equals for every transaction. It’s trivially easy to switch which card you use when you pay and every card gets the same best user experience.
Forcing NFC open is, paradoxically, anti-competitive, because it makes it easier for the biggest banks to stop competing and instead lock their customers in.
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Merchants do not have any relationship with Apple for Apple Pay transactions. You tap your phone and it’s treated the exact same way as when you tap your card. The merchant sends it to whoever they use for card processing, who eventually sends it to the card network (Visa, etc.) and to the bank for approval. That’s what payment processing is. Apple isn’t involved at any step. They are involved in the provisioning process where cards are added to your device.
Apple charges a fee to the issuing bank, which comes out of their share of the card processing fee paid by merchants. The original (2014) reported fee for US credit card transactions was 0.15%. Card processing fees are, in general, significantly cheaper in Europe (and indeed most other countries). We don’t even know if the US fee is still 0.15% but it definitely isn’t in the EU.
deleted by creator
Have you literally done zero research into this? The vast majority of merchants in the US, and nearly 100% in many other countries, accept Apple Pay. Doesn’t that strike you as awfully high if they actually had to sign up for it with Apple? And add an entirely new payment processor to their operations?
Apple is not involved in any capacity with processing Apple Pay transactions when you tap your device in a business. A Visa card loaded on an iPhone is literally just a contactless Visa. Apple Pay = Google Pay = physical contactless card. One single industry-standard protocol.
For web/app transactions, a merchant has to set up Apple Pay explicitly (though it’s still actually processed by the same parties as entering the card number) but for in person, they just need contactless payments enabled on their card terminal. No extra steps, parties, or fees.
deleted by creator
Hey, exciting to see people so passionate about this! The other user is correct that Apple is not involved with the processing of purchase transactions. Pulled this from LinkedIn:
Top portion is the provisioning flow, bottom portion is the purchase transaction flow. As you can see the transaction is between the customer, acquirer, card network, and issuing bank. Apple involvement not required as the card network does the work of decrypting the payment token.
So the other user’s statement that
Is accurate.
That graphic is really good. I’ve seen a lot of graphics that try to explain it but most of them make mistakes; that one is surprisingly perfect.
deleted by creator
Yes, that is correct. As I pointed out, the top flow in the graphic is the provisioning flow, the flow by which Apple Pay payment credentials (device primary account number, DPAN) are created.
The bottom flow is a purchase transaction flow, that’s what occurs when a user is making a purchase transaction at a store. There is no involvement from Apple Pay servers in processing those transactions. Credentials are sent from the device, to the point of sale terminal, to the acquirer, to the card network, to the card issuer, and back again.
In case you’re not just trolling, I encourage you to learn more about this topic. It’s pretty cool how Apple Pay works.
I feel like I’ve entered some Twilight Zone. You just keep repeating the same absurd claims about something but if you had ever researched it in any capacity you’d know how false those claims are.
“Apple Pay is accepted at over 85 percent of retailers in the U.S.”
Look, it’s really simple: If a store accepts contactless cards, it by definition accepts Apple Pay. They are the same thing to the merchant. There are zero merchants that take contactless cards but can’t take Apple Pay.
As for costs, a random sampling:
Forbes:
US Chamber of Commerce: