Apple Pay

Yes, it does sound a bit ironic. Although Apple has had its own mobile payment system for quite a while now, you couldn't use Apple Pay to buy stuff from Apple's digital stores. That has silently change now and it seems that Apple has flipped the switch for some markets. Users in those select countries will now, if not soon, be able to use their Wallets associated with their Apple Pay account to buy apps, ebooks, and music from Apple's iTunes and App stores.

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Contactless technology like NFC conjure up images of simply and lightly tapping on surfaces to initiate an action, be it authentication or even payment. What those scenarios don't often include is the initial setup that has to be done beforehand, like downloading an app and signing into a service. Apple, however, seems to be leading the way towards that the true realization of that fantasy with NFC tags that trigger Apple Pay, all without setting up anything other than Apple Pay first.

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Apple’s event on Monday signaled a new strategy: in addition to tech and products, its new baby would be services. Movie streaming, publications, and perhaps most curiously, banking. It’s called Apple Card, a new credit card linked to Apple Pay that's built into the Wallet app.

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Even though you'll mostly be using Apple's new credit card digitally through Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, there will still be times when you'll need to use a physical card. Though it probably pains Apple to say it, worldwide support for Apple Pay isn't quite to 100% yet. In addition to adding your Apple Card to your Wallet as soon as you're approved for one, Apple will also send you a physical card to use in those instances where Apple Pay isn't supported, and it looks quite a bit different from most other credit cards out there.

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Back before today's Apple reveal event, an interesting rumor made the rounds, claiming that Apple was going to launch a credit card of its own. As it turns out, that rumor was correct, as Tim Cook just announced a new service called Apple Card. There's a lot to this announcement, so let's dive into all that Apple reveal today.

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For quite some time now, Apple has been looking to reduce its reliance on device sales by making money in other ways, particularly through fee-based services. Some of those, like Apple Music and iCloud, already exist and seem to be making Apple a decent chunk of change. Apple also seems to be gearing up to offer magazine subscriptions through Apple News and is rumored to be creating a streaming video service, but it may not stop there.

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This week the folks at Target announced they'd be bringing multiple new payment types to their stores. That'll include Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and contactless cards from Discover, American Express, Visa, and Mastercard. This comes ALL AT ONCE this year after Target's early attempts at creating their own payment solution in the Target App, started in 2017.

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Over the last few years, support for Apple Pay has slowly spread across the retail landscape. Though it seems to be supported at most large retailers these days, there are still a few hold-outs who have yet to bite. CVS was famously one of these early holdouts, but all of that is changing today, as the nationwide pharmacy chain has finally flipped the switch on Apple Pay support.

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Apple Wallet already supports a number of different cards, whether those are credit cards, loyalty cards, coupons, or transit passes. Today, however, Apple is beginning a pretty major expansion for Wallet by rolling out support for student IDs. At first, this launch will be small-scale, but of course, the hope is that more universities begin supporting Apple Wallet on a wider scale in the near future.

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It’s a long time coming, but 7-Eleven shoppers can now take advantage of the convenience of not having to bring cash with them to buy at stores. Instead, they can simply tap their smartphones on terminals and that’s that. Digital payments at 7-Eleven just got an upgrade with the addition of Apple Pay and Google Pay to its list, ensuring that three of the biggest mobile payment systems in the US are now all accounted for.

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Mobile payment systems might not yet be as common as, say, credit cards, but their silent and steady growth is like a stealthy invasion that will suddenly take us by surprise. Apple Pay, in particular, claims to have already surpassed market leader Square in terms of transaction numbers. Now Apple is moving to cement its position and show its strength by announcing Apple Pay’s upcoming appearances in, among other places, CVS Pharmacy and 7-11 stores.

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Earlier this year, eBay announced plans to begin changing the way it handles payments on its marketplace. As part of this plan, it dropped PayPal as the primary payment processor for purchases and announced its intention to begin managing end-to-end payments itself. While it won't be ready to flip the switch on that initiative until later this year, we now know that eBay will begin supporting Apple Pay when it does.

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