Just three days after Apple’s new and exciting payment technology Apple Pay launched last week, over 1 million bank cards had already been signed onto the service. Apple CEO Tim Cook dubbed this a major sign of long-term success for the NFC-based mobile payment system despite some brands rejecting the service in their stores.
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While only available in the US for now, Apple Pay enables people with an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to pay for goods and services at “220 000 physical stores” by tapping their smartphones at the register, as well as online. The system relies on people using their phones’ fingerprint reader Touch ID. You can also use the Apple Watch.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Cook is very confident about the technology going forward. “You are only relevant as a retailer or merchant if your customers love you,” he said. “It’s the first and only mobile payment system that’s easy, private and secure.”
Two popular drugstores in the US, Rite Aid and CVS, disabled the service over the weekend. While reasons for refusing Apple Pay are still unclear, the former did note that it is “still in the process of evaluating our mobile payment options.”
The big Apple also faces competition from tech giants Google, PayPal and Square.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has signed up three of the biggest credit card companies in the US including Visa, MasterCard and American Express. It also has six of the country’s biggest credit-card issuers under its belt which accounts for 83% of all cards in the States.
According to Apple, the iPhone 6 has already broken sales records within the first month after launch. Numbers are unclear, though we do know that 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models were sold within the first three days of launch.
It’s believed that Apple will receive 0.15% of each purchase made.
