Kunle walked to the cashier at the counter. Brought out his iPhone, as the cashier scanned the items he just bought. His bill came to N10, 999. He held his phone over a small hardly noticeable sensor with his finger on the iPhone Touch ID. There was a slight beep indicating that the items have just been paid for.
Your MasterCard and Visa Card may soon be history. Apple just changed the way you pay for things.
According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple Pay will “forever change the way all of us buy things.”
In the new iPhone 6 and iPhone6+ is the Apple Pay. Apple Pay plans to change the way you pay for things with contactless payment technology. Now, your phone also becomes your payment card with Apple Pay. The new payment technology can also be found the new Apple Watch and iPad.
Using near field communication technology, Apple Pay makes payment as simple as placing your iPhone or iPad or iWatch near a contactless reader that is installed in stores or hotels or any place where goods and services are sold, with your finger on the Touch ID of the apple device. A subtle vibration is what makes you aware that a payment has been completed in seconds.
The new apple payment technology will eliminate the need for you to carry your payment cards. They will be stored electronically on your apple device. It also eliminates the need to share your card information as all payments are done without you having to input your card details. This improves security of e-payment transactions. Apple Pay is activated with the user’s fingerprint.
Also, if your iPhone or iPad or Phablet is ever lost or stolen, you can use” Find My iPhone” to quickly put your device in Lost Mode to suspend Apple Pay, or you can wipe your device clean completely with “Find My iPhone.”
All the top payment cards, MasterCard and Visa, which are the popular cards in Nigeria, are compatible with Apple Pay. Apple Pay takes off today Monday, October 20, 2016 with several leading stores and banks in the USA signing on to it. The big question is which bank will be the first to launch Apple pay in Nigeria.
In the US, Apple recently announced that about 500 financial institutions have already signed onto Apple Pay. Also, about 220,000 merchants in the US are said to be ready to start accepting Apple pay.
Apple pay will be a big boost to the Cashless campaign of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Financial institutions in Nigeria and across Africa will be watching closely as Apple Pay takes off in the US.
