Apple’s arrival on payment scene is ‘tipping point’ in e-payments, says Verifone boss

The new Apple Pay system will give a major boost to the contactless payment sector, industry experts believe. The benefits of such an influential name lending its weight to NFC devices are considerable, says June Yee Felix (right), president of Verifone Europe. “Apple Pay is something wonderful for our industry,”she told several hundred delegates attending the Opening Summit of CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS 2014. “They have engaged the consumer.
November 4, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
June Yee Felix, president of Verifone Europe

The new Apple Pay system will give a major boost to the contactless payment sector, industry experts believe.

The benefits of such an influential name lending its weight to NFC devices are considerable, says June Yee Felix, president of Verifone Europe. “Apple Pay is something wonderful for our industry,”she told several hundred delegates attending the Opening Summit of CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS 2014. “They have engaged the consumer. The technology has been there for some time. Others, such as Google, have gone down the same road, but what’s different is that Apple has captured the imagination of the consumer.”She went on: “Having over 200,000 merchants as places to pay in the US alone is a tipping point, I believe, in creating momentum. It will get consumer excitement going and that is very, very important.”The adoption of NFC by major European brands such as Marks & Spencer department stores is also helping the contactless payment market expand. It is reckoned that making a contactless payment is up to 15 times faster than traditional methods using cash or debit cards. Oyvind Rastad, chairman of Eurosmart, the smart security industry’s trade body, also touched on the impact of Apple’s arrival in the market: “It’s great news for the industry.”More widely, he predicts: “Next year will be the year of NFC. I know this is the third time I’ve said this, but NFC is becoming a commercial reality.”Meanwhile, almost two billion chip and pin cards were issued this year, 500 million of them in China alone, he notes. A major migration to chip and pin is also underway in the US, which has clung to the traditional credit card payment method of signing paper receipts. “We see a hyper-connected world, where everyone and everything is connected at all times. By 2020, more than 50% of transactions will be mobile transactions,”Rastad concludes.

Related Content

  • Destiny Thomas on transit's racist legacy
    September 25, 2020
    The killing of George Floyd by US police sparked international protests and put Black Lives Matter into the spotlight. Dr Destiny Thomas, founder and CEO of Thrivance Group, talks to Adam Hill about the legacy of racism in transit, Covid-19, slow streets – and what comes next
    Read More
  • CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS goes from Smart Retail to Connected Commerce
    July 9, 2014
    One of the key exhibits at CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS 2014 will be a dynamic new space called Connected Commerce in which various companies will demonstrate new ways of shopping and paying using cutting-edge technology. “It will showcase a mixture of retail innovation, showing how digital can work in practice at point of sale,” explained Angelo Caci of AND’Co, who is helping to put together the new area. It has grown out of the Smart Retail space which was such a hit of the CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS event last
    Read More
  • Milipol Paris: open for business to CARTES visitors
    November 19, 2013
    For the first time ever, CARTES visitors will be able to pop into internal security exhibition Milipol Paris – and there are a lot of good reasons why you should, explains Milipol director Michael Weatherseed. For one thing, both shows share a common concern: security Visitors wishing to maximise the potential of their visit to CARTES 2013 should think about also taking the time to look in on Milipol Paris, a separate exhibition for the internal security industry which is organised under the patronage of th
    Read More
  • The case for integrating urban traffic control and parking
    February 3, 2012
    Although urban traffic control and parking management are inextricably linked in so many ways, there remain fundamental differences which undermine closer integration. Car parking guidance systems can have a significant, positive impact on congestion in town and city centres, however conflicting business models still stand in the way of the more profound integration of car parking management and Urban Traffic Control (UTC) systems.
    Read More

Highlighted Content