Unveiling the Future of iPhone Payments: Beyond APPLE Pay

There’s been an evolution in the evolution of digital wallets because the biggest player in the market is calling time. After years of struggling to make a splash and get a share of the virtual marketplace, APPLE has announced a change that will alter the way iPhones are used for payments not only in the European Union – currently the greatest regulatory pressure point – but in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, with ‘additional locations to follow’. Here’s what APPLE’s change means for iPhone users and contactless payments going forward.

The Core of APPLE's Update: NFC and SE Expansion

What’s at the centre of this announcement, though, is a commitment by APPLE to open up NFC (Near Field Communication) and SE (Secure Element) so that third-party developers can incorporate it into their own apps for making contactless payments. For the first time, APPLE Pay and Wallet will no longer be the only apps available for iPhone users to make contactless payments with their phones. This is a big deal. It’s the first indication of a direction we might go when the iPhone is even more of a fixture at the point-of-sale.

Navigating the New Horizon: Alternatives to APPLE Wallet and Pay

What that means is that, in the coming months, users might be able to use their iPhones instead of APPLE Wallet or APPLE Pay for things like car keys, corporate badges, university IDs, hotel keys, loyalty cards and event tickets. APPLE even says that it will be ready to support government IDs in the future. That would mean a vast expansion of what the iPhone can be used for.

Personalization and Choice: A New User Experience

A key feature of this upgrade, meanwhile, is the ability to set a default app – the one that launches when you double-click the side button on the iPhone – to anything you want. All these concessions should be read against the broader philosophy that has guided APPLE lately: to open the ecosystem and let users choose the things they want – and developers have unprecedented access to iPhone’s built-in technologies.

Behind the Scenes: Developer Access and Agreements

Accessing those technologies does not come easily, however. Among other things, developers must first enter a commercial agreement with APPLE; they must then request the entitlement for access to Near Field Communications (NFC) and the secure element (SE), and incur the related charges. (It’s not yet clear exactly what these charges cover, but the requirement appears to mean that the use of the iPhone’s contactless technologies is structured, if open.)

A Seamless Future or a Complicated Present?

Granted, a lot of this simplicity and security is currently guaranteed in part by the fact that it’s a closed system – APPLE Pay and APPLE Wallet apps are the only ones that integrate NFC and SE technologies. This means that mobile payments made with these services are easy and secure, because APPLE has no incentive to interfere with the process. Taking contactless beyond those narrow confines is an exciting prospect, but it risks making a streamlined process more cumbersome.

Looking Ahead: APPLE's Strategy and Regulatory Navigation

APPLE’s decision is not just about ramping up features: it is a proactive response to regulatory pressure, in particular from the EU. Making emulators for console games work on iOS is another such example.

Conclusion: The Dawn of a New Digital Wallet Era

If you use an iPhone, you now have a more open, flexible and customisable iPhone. If you make apps for the iPhone, your work just got a lot more lucrative and rewarding – as well as challenging. And if you use the world of APPLE Pay and digital wallets, then this change will reverberate through your life for years to come. This is a big change. It is transformative. And it shows that APPLE is on the verge of adopting an entirely new creed – one that will make it even more central to your digital world than ever before. Let me explain, but first I want to tell you about a new version of iOS. iOS 18 won’t be released by APPLE for another month or two. The latest iPhone, currently code-named D54, is expected to launch in September. Industry insiders are buzzing about a significant new update, and they’ve even come up with a name for it: the software will be iOS 18. (Reminder: next month is the year 2021, not 2018. Pay attention!)

About APPLE

APPLE Inc is a phenomenon and an icon of innovation themselves, and their continued radical and brave progressive moves in computing, music and mobile communications have positively transformed lives by inventing, reinventing and re-inventing digital lifestyles. They are the company behind the iPhone, iPad, Mac and APPLE Watch branded products, and their commitment to innovation makes their place at the forefront of technology a no-brainer. APPLE’s latest tact to open the contactless payment technologies of the iPhone gives yet another conspicuous impression that they are not just any technology company, but everyone’s one and only future technology company, namely the one who perpetually invents the future of digital interaction and deliver alongside the convenience that comes with it.