![\"Retailers](\"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/retailers-need-to-embrace-mobile-payments-_16000653_800721174_0_0_14045705_300-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Retailers need to embrace mobile payments.<\/p><\/div>\n
Although groundbreaking, Google Wallet did little to move the needle and get shoppers using mobile wallets. That didn\u2019t happen until late last year, when Apple announced Apple Pay. At its announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook<\/span><\/a> described the credit card payment process as antiquated, calling the magnetic interface “outdated and vulnerable,\u201d and its reliance on security codes insecure:<\/p>\n “We\u2019re totally reliant on the exposed numbers, and the outdated and vulnerable magnetic interface\u00a0\u2014 which by the way is five decades old \u2014 and the security codes which all of us know aren\u2019t so secure.\u201d<\/p>\n Apple struck a chord. The new process was so simple and efficient that payments made through Apple Pay accounted for between 0.1% and 1.6% of transactions at five top retailers in the month following the launch of the feature. That\u2019s a heady figure, particularly because Apple Pay is only available on the newest iPhones.<\/p>\n In addition to the simplicity of use, Apple Pay is secure. The technology uses near-field communication (NFC) technology, which lets iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners pay for goods by holding their phones directly in front of payment terminals. It uses tokenization, authentication by fingerprint (Touch ID) and a secure method that isn\u2019t part of iOS for storing the data. All those factors have made the technology attractive to a variety of businesses, from retailers such as Macy\u2019s to organizations like\u00a0the National Football League.<\/p>\n The NFL, in fact, showcased Apple Pay at this year\u2019s Super Bowl, while using Retail Pro POS software as the backbone\u00a0for all transactions. Visa actively incented customers to use the mobile payment technology by offering a $5 discount coupon to anyone who completed an Apple Pay demo. Further, Visa gave $10 to any one who loaded the credit\u00a0card into their wallets or demonstrated that they already had done so.<\/p>\n It helped, of course, that there was higher than average iPhone 6 penetration on hand at the Super Bowl this year \u2013 according to pymnts.com, Visa noted that 35% to 40% of customers in the NFL shop were carrying around Apple\u2019s newest phone. A quarter of the users put a Visa on their phone and took the $10 dollar coupon, though the majority \u2014 75% \u2014 were happy simply with the $5 card they got for demoing the service. In the end, roughly 15,000 people came in to try out Apple Pay during the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Retail Pro\u00a0has provided the much-needed impetus for the growth in mobile payments with Apple Pay. It has proven that consumers will embrace the technology, provided it is reliable and easy to use. In response to the projected uptick in mobile payment usage, rivals PayPal and Google announced this week efforts to position themselves more competitively. PayPal will purchase Paydiant, a startup that helps companies such as Subway and Capitol One build mobile payments options, and Google unveiled Android Pay, an NFC-based solution that will serve as platform for third-party store and payment apps. If competition is good for business, then the mobile payment arena is doing very well indeed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s most modern payment process \u2014 mobile wallets \u2014 is quite a departure from your grandfather\u2019s, your mom\u2019s or, quite possibly, your older sibling\u2019s. In 1879, when the cash register debuted, cash was king, and it would reign unchallenged until … Continue reading