Tag: mobile payment

Apple Pay Will Enter India By The End Of 2017
On September 12, Apple launched the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, the eagerly awaited iPhone X along with Apple Watch Series 3 and Apple TV 4K. Apple also announced that the global rollout of iOS 11, which was announced at the WWDC 2017, will start seeding to compatible iPhones and iPads on September 19. One of the most popular features available on iOS devices is Apple Pay, which is not yet available in India. However, sources close to iGyaan tell us that Apple has begun testing Apple Pay in India and will be introduced in the country by the end of 2017. Sources tell us that Apple is in talks with several merchants like Starbucks and Croma stores, and banks like HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered, and Citi Bank to introduce the contactless payment machines compatible with Apple Pay at their outlets.

Apple Pay securely stores credit cards, debit cards, or other sensitive payment information from the Wallet app and lets the user pay for goods directly from their mobile device. For Apple Pay to work, the merchant needs to have a contactless machine which is compatible with Apple Pay. During the transaction, TouchID or FaceID is required to authenticate the payment. Once the authentication is successful, a subtle vibration confirms that the transaction was successful.

The cardless payment service works on the new MacBook with TouchID and all iOS devices launched after iPhone 6, including the iPhone SE which is one of the most popular iOS devices in India and also the only Apple product currently being manufactured in India at the company’s Bengaluru Campus. Devices compatible with Apple Pay are:
- iPhone 6/6 Plus
- iPhone6s/6s Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 7/7 Plus
- iPhone 8/8 Plus
- iPhone X
- iPad Pro
- iPad Air 2/iPad Air 3
- iPad Mini 3/iPad Mini 4
- Apple Watch Series 1/ Series 2/ Series 3
- MacBook Pro 2017 with TouchID
Samsung has already introduced Samsung Pay in India which works exactly like Apple Pay, except that it doesn’t need a compatible contactless machine to work. Samsung Pay works with any card payment machine, giving it an advantage over Apple Pay. Other online payment apps like PayTM also allow its users to make cardless payments directly through the PayTM app, although, you need to top up your PayTM balance before making any transactions. In the case of Samsung and Apple Pay, transactions are made directly from the credit or debit card synced with your account.

Google also launched its own UPI based mobile payments app, Tez in India on September 18th. The app has a widespread support of banks and the Finance Minister of India, Mr. Arun Jaitley himself launched the app and even made the first ever Tez transaction. It will be interesting to see how many banks come on board with Apple Pay and how Indian consumers react to the service as the convenience of PayTM and a surge of Google Tez by December may hamper the popularity of Apple Pay. However, considering Apple is India’s second largest premium smartphone maker along with Apple Pay’s integration with iOS 11 and the Apple ecosystem may persuade iPhone and other Apple product owners to switch to Apple Pay.
September 18, 2017
Samsung Pay is Already a Smashing Success in South Korea

Mobile payment seems to be the next big thing getting users excited in the tech world. It refers to transactions, under specific financial regulations to ensure safety, using a mobile device. The latest company to be in news related to this tech development is Samsung, creating headlines with Samsung Pay.

The newest service of the company has been launched in its home country of South Korea less than a month ago, and the company claims it has already witnessed transactions amounting to $30 million. This amount is spread across 1.5 million transactions. They were made by people who were active throughout the course of last month, many using the service every day. The device mainly used for it was Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

Earlier, Google Wallet has been a noticeable name in the realm of mobile payment. Apple is yet to introduce the service and there is little official news available about its launch. It would be interesting to see Samsung Pay pitted against other tech giants and the way in which market responds to it outside Korea.

September 26, 2015
Paytm’s Mobile Wallet Will Soon Be Accepted at Café Coffee Day, Domino’s and More

After stepping in the e-commerce market, Paytm is geared to diversify into the offline space. The digital recharge start-up has partnered with thousands of quick service restaurants (QSRs) in major cities of India to provide cash-less service in the next two months. By stepping in offline retail business, the mobile recharge service will offer customers a choice to pay through their secure platform without the need to carry cash.

The Vice-President (Business) of Paytm Amit Lakhotia stated on the same –

We are now foraying into the offline space. We have partnered various QSRs covering 7,000-10,000 outlets in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

He further added that the service should be available by mid-June. Some of the restaurants that have joined hands with Paytm include top food chains like Café Coffee Day (CCD) and Domino’s. The company is planning to add more more restaurants where their Paytm Wallet can be functional.

Lakhotia stated on the growing acceptance of their virtual wallet application, “Mobile wallet usage is definitely growing in the country. On our platform alone, about 66 million people are using the wallet services and the number will cross 100 million much before the year ends.”

The company commenced the Paytm Wallet app with its debut in e-commerce space. Paytm wallet allows users to transfer money within the wallets. The app offers users to transfer money to a bank account from the wallet so that they can cash out the required amount.

Paytm expects to observe a steep increase in revenue by the year end. Right now, its revenue rate is $1.5 billion, but it is expected to multiply more than double to $4 billion by end-2015.

Meanwhile, Paytm provides its services to the online services like Uber, BookMyShow, eBay and IRCTC.

May 4, 2015
Snapdeal Buys FreeCharge to Strengthen its Stand in the Mobile Commerce Market

E-commerce website, Snapdeal, is one of the most prominant players in the market along with Flipkart and Amazon. The company has now announced that it has acquired the mobile payment app, Freecharge. With this move the company hopes to gather more users as well as create new services to extend its offerings.

FreeCharge lets users pay for their mobile recharges, DTH and utility for multiple service providers. Every day 75 million mobile recharges are done in India out of which only 3 Million are done online, so it is definitely a massive market to have captured. While the service providers do provide online payment options, there has been a growth in the number of payment apps in the market.

Speaking on the acquisition, Snapdeal founder, Kunal Bahl said, “The age of monolithic e-commerce platforms is over; it is now time to build an impactful digital commerce ecosystem in India that is multidimensional and inclusive…At Snapdeal we are building an ecosystem that powers billions of digital commerce transactions in the country in the coming years. “

FreeCharge’s founder, Kunal Shah said that their service is at the forefront of the mobile commerce revolution in India. He added that 85% of our transactions originate from mobile, and the user retention of the service is really high.

Following this deal, FreeCharge will continue to operate as an independent service. Snapdeal says that it will collaborate with its new partner to offer innovative services to the users. We’ll get to know more about how Snapdeal will benefit from this deal in the near future.

April 8, 2015