AppleInsider Staff
Just days after Apple announced the opening of Touch ID APIs to third-party developers with iOS 8, mobile and digital payment services giant PayPal is already said to be working on implementing the feature into its apps.
According to sources within PayPal, the company is looking to quickly integrate forthcoming iOS 8 Touch ID fingerprint recognition APIs into its mobile payment apps, reports Business Insider.
To that end, a team of PayPal developers attended a Worldwide Developers Conference session on Wednesday focusing on the hardware-based security system. PayPal's director of global initiatives, Anuj Nayar, confirmed the company had indeed sent a handful of devs to the session, suggesting PayPal is at least showing official interest in the technology
"It seems to be a fairly easy API to use, but we're still kicking the tires," the person said.
For some industry watchers, the integration of Touch ID and payment services is seen as the next logical step for Apple's secure fingerprint scanning solution. In its current form under iOS 7, Touch ID is limited to the iPhone 5s and can only unlock the handset or authenticate purchases through iTunes.
Apple is widely expected to include Touch ID into every new iOS device introduced in 2014, including the rumored iPhone 6, refreshed iPad lineup and possibly the iPod touch.
With a huge installed user base and hundreds of millions of credit cards on file, the iOS-iTunes ecosystem is ripe for a fast and secure mobile payments solution. Touch ID solves the storage and recall of financial data part of the equation, but point of sale infrastructure in brick-and-mortar stores represents a major stumbling block to widespread adoption.
PayPal, among other companies like Square, have partnerships with certain retailers, though the proprietary solutions require a standalone app and can be more difficult to use compared to paying with a credit card or cash.
Apple dipped its toe into the consolidation of payment-oriented apps with Passbook, which serves as a central hub for gift cards, rewards cards, tickets and other digital assets, but the app's reach is still somewhat restricted. With the opening of Touch ID's APIs, Apple could potentially be testing the waters to see if a full-fledged first-party payments solution is worth the effort.
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
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Christine McKee
11 Comments
[quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/180487/paypal-reportedly-working-to-integrate-touch-id-into-ios-apps#post_2546417"] Apple dipped its toe into the consolidation of payment-oriented apps with Passbook, which serves as a central hub for gift cards, rewards cards, tickets and other digital assets, but the app's reach is still somewhat restricted. With the opening of Touch ID's APIs, Apple could potentially be testing the waters to see if a full-fledged first-party payments solution is worth the effort.[/quote] Apple [I][B]could[/B][/I]...? Potentially be...? Testing the waters...? [COLOR=blue]The 800 pound gorilla is gonna... no doubt about it.[/COLOR] Touch ID on the 5s was to make sure the implementation was as secure and durable as it was intended to be... This Fall Apple will drop the other shoe and there will seismic aftershocks. The real beauty of this is that Samsung can't even knock it off.
The 800 pound gorilla is gonna... no doubt about it. Touch ID on the 5s was to make sure the implementation was as secure and durable as it was intended to be... This Fall Apple will drop the other shoe and there will seismic aftershocks.
The real beauty of this is that Samsung can't even knock it off.
They are going to have the same issues with Handoff, and Continuity - They have no real desktop platform, and their tablets barley make a dent in iPad world. They mainly just have their smartphones.. it's a lowly world with a single device type.. Not to mention the Metal and Swift.. and with iPhone 5s going 64bit.. which they still cannot do.. The list of what they cannot do or copy is growing..
Next few years will be very telling.. Tizen seems to be their next big bet.. I have to wonder how that will work out for them...
PayPal already works fine without having to bother with a fingerprint.
I buy something from my eBay App, PayPal pays for it, the password is only required now and then and from my iPhone/iPad it's a PIN.
The real beauty of this is that Samsung can't even knock it off.
Actually Apple is doing the following on this on. The S5 did this out of the gate. The S5 fingerprint scanner was open to developers right from the get go. Hope I didn't ruin your day with this breaking news. But to be honest, as consumers, why should we care who did it first. If a feature is useful why not add it.
https://www.paypal-pages.com/samsunggalaxys5/us/index.html
I'm trying to understand the connection between a *verification* mechanism like Touch ID and a payments system like some have spoken about in connection with Apple.
The high order bit in payments is that credit card companies effectively apply a 2-3% tax on almost every routine consumer transaction. Having Touch ID exist to verify identity might be convenient, but having Apple somehow disrupt the entire credit card industry would be on a completely different order.