Newsroom

October 16, 2014

In the news: Apple Pay opens Monday

Reports said the new Apple Pay, the payment system that Apple is offering with its iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, goes into use Monday.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was quoted on The Wall Street Journal's Personal Tech News blog noting more than 220,000 retailers nationwide.

Here's how the blog explains the system: "Like Google Wallet and other rival systems that let people make purchase with their phones, Apple Pay relies on NFC (near-field communication) chips in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus." The consumer carries out the purchase by placing his or her fingerprint on the phone's TouchID sensor.

In another WSJ article, Jim Laffoon, president and CEO of Security Service FCU, notes his credit union's plan to be in the Apple Pay sphere early next year.

Kevin Rowland of MasterCard discussed the new payment system during NAFCU's Congressional Caucus. He said a digitized token using a MasterCard "digital enablement service" is created and used with the phone's secure element when a mobile transaction occurs. The device is held close to a card reader; to execute the transaction, the account holder presses his finger to a fingerprint sensor on the phone.