Apple Pay rewards program coming in June as Android Pay looms, report says
Apple is reportedly set to announce a rewards program next month that will give perks to customers using Apple Pay, a long-rumored feature that could escalate the stakes in what appears to be a coming battle with Google's competing Android Pay service.
According to sources speaking with The New York Times, Apple is to announce its Apple Pay rewards program in June, potentially at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference.
Information is scarce, but people familiar with Apple's plans said the company will offer Apple Pay customers perks in exchange for using the service, which is currently hardware-limited to iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch.
As for Google's plans, sources claim the Internet search giant is fostering partnerships with a wide range of credit and debit cards providers, as well as merchants keen on harvesting customer shopping data. To this end, Android Pay may link with existing retailer loyalty programs, though details regarding potential partnerships went unreported.
Interestingly, part of Google's revamped mobile payments initiative involves the resurrection of Google Wallet, which will reportedly serve as a peer-to-peer solution tied to users' debit accounts.
Rumors of an Apple Pay rewards system first surfaced soon after the service launched last October, but an actual program failed to materialize. At the time, reports claimed iBeacon technology would be integrated, allowing merchants to push out coupons and other perks to iPhone owners.
According to sources speaking with The New York Times, Apple is to announce its Apple Pay rewards program in June, potentially at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference.
Information is scarce, but people familiar with Apple's plans said the company will offer Apple Pay customers perks in exchange for using the service, which is currently hardware-limited to iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch.
As for Google's plans, sources claim the Internet search giant is fostering partnerships with a wide range of credit and debit cards providers, as well as merchants keen on harvesting customer shopping data. To this end, Android Pay may link with existing retailer loyalty programs, though details regarding potential partnerships went unreported.
Interestingly, part of Google's revamped mobile payments initiative involves the resurrection of Google Wallet, which will reportedly serve as a peer-to-peer solution tied to users' debit accounts.
Rumors of an Apple Pay rewards system first surfaced soon after the service launched last October, but an actual program failed to materialize. At the time, reports claimed iBeacon technology would be integrated, allowing merchants to push out coupons and other perks to iPhone owners.
Comments
I hope Apple spends all that's necessary to crush GoogPay. Madison Avenue and the retailers need to be taught a lesson.
And Anderoid is too insecure to serve as a payment platform anyway. People continue to realize it's a trainwreck.
Android Pay ... mmm .. I wonder given the Advertising Google gets is 75% from iOS if perhaps the vast majority of Android users don't ... how can I put this politely ... ?
They're lacking liquidity?
Boom Baby... There it is!
With integrated rewards and a strong international push Apple Pay will take off globally.
Go Apple, Go Go Go!
I can't believe that when Apple comes up with a name like Apple Pay, that they don't automatically register the inevitable Android Pay and Samsung Pay, at the same time. They'll always be able to do this because no one knows what Apple are going to name something, and it's only then that they use the same name with Apple replaced with their name. Then they'll have to work out their own service name. Instead of leeching of Apple's expertise in naming, and also leaching the uniqueness of Apple's product name.
I hope Apple spends all that's necessary to crush GoogPay. Madison Avenue and the retailers need to be taught a lesson.
Considering how illegal that would be I certainly hope they wouldn't and would just let the obvious merits of Apple Pay stand on its own
Considering how illegal that would be I certainly hope they wouldn't and would just let the obvious merits of Apple Pay stand on its own
Who said anything about illegal action? They're crushing Samsung right now without doing anything illegal.
I don't see Android Pay being a strong competitor in this field. Their offering will likely piggy back off the same infrastructure changes that were required for Apple Pay to function. However, Google would be considerably slower in rolling out banks as there are significant behind the scenes infrastructure requirements and contractual red tape.
As payments don't align as well with Google's business model(ads) as it does with Apple's(hardware) combined with Google's leadership never wanting to commit too many resources into a single project we can expect that Android Pay will be sold as an Apple Pay competitor, but in practice be trying to unseat PayPal instead. (I.e. Build a quick online base, then slowly roll out the hard yards of bank involvement if their service proves popular.)
All in all, I don't see any easy wins for Android Pay, but I do see a lot of opportunity for them to seriously mess this up for themselves. (read: security.) After all Google Wallet was hacked numerous times on fully-patched devices. (Search: Google Wallet Hacked for a whole world of stories.)
Considering how illegal that would be I certainly hope they wouldn't and would just let the obvious merits of Apple Pay stand on its own
Speaking of illegal, Google is making deals with US Carriers to accept only Android Pay on Android Phones and ignore Samsung Pay by pre-installing Android Pay on all their phones.
This was part of the deal for Google to bailout the carriers by buying ISIS/SoftCard from them. The anti-trust busters should take a look at that deal but they probably will not since lots of senators own Google stocks.
If this rewards program gives Apple product discount, it will be the most popular fucking reward program in history.
Why does Androids have to use the same word Pay? Are they so brain dead people that they can not think of a different word? According to Carly Fiorina only Chinese are not creative.
Well then what the hell happened to Google Wallet? You know, the superior payment system Android users have had for years before ?Pay?
Well then what the hell happened to Google Wallet? You know, the superior payment system Android users have had for years before ?Pay?
It went behind the woodshed with Glass, Google+, Google Reader, and soon the GooCar.
Well then what the hell happened to Google Wallet? You know, the superior payment system Android users have had for years before ?Pay?
Just like all other Android features, they're just bullet points for the sake of bullet points, that Google puts almost zero effort into, and which at the end of the day have no impact on the trajectory of the industry. I'd be be curious to how many times Android pay has been used so far, while being out for "years" compared to Apple Pay, only available on 1 phone and out for only a few months in 1 market. Android Pay probably would not even cause a blip on the chart.
Why does Androids have to use the same word Pay? Are they so brain dead people that they can not think of a different word? According to Carly Fiorina only Chinese are not creative.
Remember Apple penalized for tens of millions dollars for using the name iPad which was used by a Chinese company over ten years ago?
Meh.
1. Samsung Pay was never going to be made available on other Android phones, and
2. If Android Pay takes off, Samsung will just support it and Samsung Pay, because "two of everything" is the normal Samsung Galaxy experience.
I'm waiting for PayPal to introduce PayPalPay.