Apple recently discussed potential use cases for the future of Apple Pay as a convenient alternative to traditional POS transactions.
According to eMarketer, $8.71 billion was spent in 2015 using mobile payments. That number is expected to grow 210% to $27.05 billion in 2016. An estimated 37.5 million consumers are predicted to adopt it by 2016, expanding the number of overall users 61.8%. As more users assimilate mobile pay – and the technology grows – unique opportunities will appear for businesses to use Apple Pay for more than just payment.
The most prospective development will apply to retail and restaurant loyalty programs. When customers swipe their reward cards at establishments like Walgreens, a push notification will appear on iOS 9 and watchOS 2 devices asking to add their loyalty card to their wallet. When they make future purchases, that loyalty card will automatically pull up when they use Apple Pay. This advancement will not only add more convenience on the consumer side but also save them time.
Other opportunities include push notifications through Apple Pay. When a customer holds their phone up to the POS system, they will receive a notification about a potential discount before they purchase with their loyalty card.
Apple Pay has expanded to work with 50 banking partners. Discover is currently one of the best in class use case for provisioning a credit card from a native app to work with Apple Pay. With the increasing number of features for Apple Watch, using Apple Pay and loyalty programs will become automatic and more convenient for the user.
If you are one of the several companies seeking Apple Pay options for your business, contact us. We’re happy to start a conversation with you about what steps your company need to get involved with Apple Pay.
