Apple has added another food-and-beverage arrow to its Apple Pay quiver, as hot sandwich chain Firehouse Subs on Thursday announced that each of its more than 860 locations across the U.S. would begin accepting contactless payments through Apple Pay.
As part of JP Morgan Chase's 2015 Investor Day on Tuesday, the bank went over statistics relating to its credit card business, announcing it has provisioned over one million wallets on Apple's fledgling Apple Pay mobile payments service.
International payment network Visa on Tuesday announced that it would extend its network tokenization service — one of the foundational technologies behind Apple Pay — to Europe beginning in mid April, signaling that the first overseas launch of Apple's mobile payment solution may not be far away.
Search giant Google is reportedly doubling down on its mobile payments strategy, agreeing on a new deal with major U.S. wireless providers to pre-install the Google Wallet app on Android handsets while acquiring the technology behind Softcard from those same carriers.
Just over two months after word first broke that Samsung was considering an Apple Pay competitor, the South Korean conglomerate has reportedly acquired mobile payments startup LoopPay to bolster its efforts.
Apple continues to expand the reach of its popular mobile payment system, with the Cupertino company rolling out support for cards from nearly two dozen additional financial institutions — including major investment bank Morgan Stanley — on Wednesday.
Apple Pay's in-app purchasing capability is often overshadowed by its physical iPhone-powered NFC counterpart, but for big-box office supply chain Staples, the feature has quickly become the most popular method of payment processed by the company's iOS app.
According to a report late Monday, Apple is looking to expand Apple Pay operations into China, but the company may face an uphill battle as partnership talks with state-owned credit card operator UnionPay have stalled.
Speaking at the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection on Friday, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook revealed that the U.S. government plans to begin accepting Apple Pay for a number of transactions, starting with admission to U.S. national parks.
The White House on Friday revealed that users of federal payment cards, including Social Security and veterans benefit debit cards, will become compatible with Apple Pay.
The official Starbucks application for iOS was updated on Wednesday to add support for Apple Pay, allowing users to quickly reload their Starbucks Card with the press of a fingertip.
The Touch ID fingerprint sensor will get an upgrade this year with Apple's next-generation iPhone, according to well-connected insider Ming-Chi Kuo, who said on Tuesday that the new model will improve the Apple Pay experience with fewer reading errors.
Some frequent flyers will soon be able to use Apple Pay to order drinks or upgrade their seat for extra legroom, as U.S. airline JetBlue announced on Tuesday that it would start accepting Apple's mobile payment service on select flights next week.
Swiss timekeeping giant Swatch is planning a new smartwatch and mobile payment system to compete with the forthcoming Apple Watch and the already-established Apple Pay, the company's CEO has said.
Millions more consumers now have access to Apple Pay as BECU, Golden 1, Alliant, and First Tech — four of the ten largest credit unions in the country — have been added as partners alongside leading regional banks BBVA Compass and Fifth Third, while Samsung is rumored to introduce a payments program of its own at the Galaxy S6 launch next month.
The strong initial success of Apple Pay, combined with the news that eBay will spin off PayPal, has led to expectations that PayPal could be a major acquisition target for mobile companies vying for users' wallets.
Apple Pay now accounts for two out of every three dollars processed through contactless payment systems, a huge achievement for Apple's NFC-based solution that debuted less than three months ago.
More than 200,000 self-service stations across America — including vending machines, coffee brewers, parking pay stations, kiosks and laundry equipment — will gain compatibility with Apple Pay, thanks to support from USA Technologies Inc.
Thousands of Western Union locations will begin accepting Apple Pay, the company announced on Tuesday, providing customers a way to transfer money and pay bills with their iPhone.
It appears that eBay is stocking up on talent in preparation of an inevitable separation from PayPal, the latest hire being Bora Chung, a payments expert who served as Apple's worldwide payments for the Online Apple Store since 2010.
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AppleInsider Staff
Mikey Campbell
Sam Oliver
Neil Hughes
