Apple rumored to announce Apple Pay for the web at WWDC 2016

Building on rumors claiming Apple Pay would see website integration this year, a report on Friday says Apple is planning to officially announce the new payment feature at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote next week.

The report from Digital Trends is light on details, but the publication's sources say Apple is ready to announce Apple Pay website integration, which brings with it the promise of seamless touch-to-pay transactions on popular e-commerce sites. Apple is predicted to reveal the new branch of Apple Pay onstage at the WWDC 2016 keynote event on Monday, sources said.

While Apple has long been rumored to be working on website support for its in-house payments service, Re/code in March was first to attach a concrete timeline to a potential launch, saying the platform would debut later this year. At the time, it was said Apple plans to limit website transactions to a secure transaction process over which the company has full control, namely Safari for iOS on Touch ID-equipped iPhones and iPads.

In the intervening months rumors of a revamped MacBook Pro have surfaced. According to well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple's new flagship laptop will sport some ilk of Touch ID technology, potentially embedded in an OLED touchbar component that replaces the top row of physical function keys. This would not only facilitate secure logins, but also introduce support for services like Apple Pay that are currently restricted to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Sources cited in today's report are not sure if users will be able to complete website purchases on devices lacking Touch ID, a current requirement for all Apple Pay transactions. Whether Apple plans to open the service to third-party web browsers is also unknown.

As for availability, Re/code believes Apple Pay website integration will be ready in time for the busy holiday shopping season.

AppleInsider will be on the scene at WWDC 2016 to offer live coverage of the event's most interesting news. Apple CEO Tim Cook and other top executives are expected to take the stage when the keynote kicks off on Monday, June 13 at 10 a.m. Pacific.

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24 Comments

rogifan_new 4297 comments · 9 Years

About 8 years ago

I wish they'd announce more B&M stores that are accepting Pay. I love using it but too few stores allow it.

NY1822 620 comments · 8 Years

finally....see you later PayPal

Rayz2016 6957 comments · 8 Years

rogifan_new said:

I wish they'd announce more B&M stores that are accepting Pay. I love using it but too few stores allow it.

I suspect that's more to do with B&M stores trying to hold off on buying NFC pay terminals. Once the banks start charging them for fraudulent transactions then things will start to move.

In the UK, NFC is everywhere and Apple Pay is everywhere with it, even if the retail staff don't know it.

I bought some bits at a stately home gift shop a while back. Tapped the iPhone on the terminal while the young flappy-fringed youth looked at me like I'd lost my mind. His eyes nearly fell out when the terminal beeped. "What did you just do??"

I guess not all youngsters feel the need to keep up. Good for him.

tjwolf 423 comments · 12 Years

I'm curious: can iOS apps that allow in-app purchases already take advantage of ApplePay? Most probably don't want to, given that Apple will get that 30% "commission" on top of the ApplePay transaction fee (0.12%).

linkman 1040 comments · 11 Years

It won't be as simple or easy as Apple Pay is at brick and mortar pay terminals, not at least with all web sites. It would require a great deal of conformity with site formatting or compliant apps to avoid things like keying in the payment amount, etc. I can only imagine a good deal of improvement with some payment portals that I have run across online -- many of them have lost my business since they want me to jump through hoops to pay. I have abandoned hundreds of shopping carts as a result.