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Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

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Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#32
post #20

Three interesting implications from this press release: - Stripe as the first user of the SDK vs Square: For any small business starting this spring, I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't use and iPhone+Stripe to start off. Zero hardware cost (assuming they have an iPhone), no need to wait for hardware delivery. - NFC will be coming to the iPad. - The ability to keep the same hardware but switch payment network…

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Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#33
Is this only for merchants? I feel like here in the US we still don't have a great way to send money back and forth with friends and family. Zelle is decent if both parties' banks support it, but otherwise I've tried Google Pay, Paypal, Venmo, and they all have some problem or another. A lot of them (I'm looking at you PayPal) require you to give them your bank username and password!

Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#34
post #23
post #14

Clarification due to a somewhat confusing title: This is about the merchant using an iPhone to accept credit cards and other Tap to Pay devices. The customer was able to pay with Tap to Pay with their iPhone for a while now.

The long slow road to contactless payments. Almost 2 decades along in the technology adoption curve. I was ready for this in 2005. https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-manage... If course as the article points out, it wasn’t even new technology back then: “ Not Exactly New Tech Mobile introduced the Speedpass in 1997. Speedpass is a small device on a keychain (called a fob) that users wave in front o…

EU has contactless paying for a while now, but it uses a chip embedded in the bank card.

Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think tap to pay can be skimmed in the same way you can with swiping. You'd have to actually clone the data on the NFC chip, which isn't possible through a tap from what I understand.

I believe it's possible to perform a MITM attack on contactless cards. From a quick google: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9220841 I do also remember reading about researchers at Cambridge University who were looking at this maybe 7-8 years ago.

Interesting! Wasn't aware of that. Is this something that's being actively exploited in the wild though? It won't let me read the actual paper so it's hard for me to tell how practical the attack is.

Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#37
I guess it was a good thing that Square had to move quickly, Since Stripe threw the gauntlet at them for just the reader [0] (If you don't have an iPhone).

Now they are directly allowing payments from the phone. No need for readers at all. Next will be the iPad as the integrated terminal with NFC and no external equipment.

But there remains the next one. Cryptocurrency payments which both of them are still in.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27534927

Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#38
post #27
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The long slow road to contactless payments. Almost 2 decades along in the technology adoption curve. I was ready for this in 2005. https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-manage... If course as the article points out, it wasn’t even new technology back then: “ Not Exactly New Tech Mobile introduced the Speedpass in 1997. Speedpass is a small device on a keychain (called a fob) that users wave in front o…

That’s not at all comparable since you’re not really paying. By that logic we’ve had contactless payments for hundreds of years in the form of opening a tab at a merchant.

That's sounds like stored value or contactless debit. What do you mean "not really paying"?

Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#39
post #26

Kinda weird. If a rando retail person pulls out their iPhone and asks me to tap... that's kinda strange in my mind. Something about "how do I know that isn't their personal phone?" would pop in my head. But things that seem awkward can become commonplace.

When I pay with cash, I don't usually worry that the salesperson will put it in their own pocket. If they choose to be dishonest, that's between them and their employer.

Re: Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone

#40
post #20

Three interesting implications from this press release: - Stripe as the first user of the SDK vs Square: For any small business starting this spring, I can't think of a reason why they wouldn't use and iPhone+Stripe to start off. Zero hardware cost (assuming they have an iPhone), no need to wait for hardware delivery. - NFC will be coming to the iPad. - The ability to keep the same hardware but switch payment network…

Stripe’s fees are pretty high though so that is certainly one reason small businesses may avoid it. Sounds like Apple is adding more processors soon though so it will be interesting to see how the space places out.
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