The rounds of Apple to launch a payment service are making the rounds of internet for a while. But today I have got proof that it will be launched soon. I received a survey this morning asking my opinion if I were to sign up for Apple Payment if launched.Well I can't tell you the answer to that question, but what is important here is that Apple is doing market research and it is soon going to launch its service.During the service the name mentioned for the service was just Apple Payment. Various questions were asked regarding other payment services, such as Paypal, AlertPay and also about online stores which included Amazon, eBay, xBox Live etc.
So what is Apple Payment?
First of its not just mobile payment service. It will be much like PayPal where you can link your account and make payments. Apple Payment will support third party vendors/merchants. So if you own a store you can opt-in for Apple Payment as a gateway for customers to pay. It is not just online payment. Your regular stores will also have options to pay through Apple Payment. The store keeper will just have to scan a bar code from your smartphone for you to make a payment.
Features of Apple Payment Service.
There are a lot of features that will come with Apples version of PayPal. One of the important one is of course mobile payment. You will not only be able to transfer money to a store keeper but also to a friend. Smartphone sales have gone high and everyone knows the importance of smartphone user as a customer.
Not all of this feature may make it to the final round, but if they do it will be make Apple Payment a great service. Features like Spending reports and integration with Financial apps(like mint.com) are new compared to regular payment services.
Apple looking out for competition? Microsoft to launch similar service too?
The last part of survey brought some interesting questions. The one that grabbed my attention was this one:-
The survey asked opinions about Google Wallet, PayPal and others too, which is understandable as this services are already available to the users. But asking about Microsoft payment makes me think about Microsoft too launching a service like that.
Would you signup for Apple Payment or Microsoft Payment? Tell us in the comments.
