Apple Pay Marks Major Leap for Digital Payments

In addition to unveiling the Apple Watch and the new iPhone 6 models, Apple also revealed plans to sync up both devices with the Apple Pay digital payment system. The move will allow users to complete online and point-of-sale payments with their smartwatches and smartphones.

Apple Pay uses near-field communications (NFC) technologies to allow connected devices within close range of a receiver to make online bank and credit card payments. The inclusion of NFC chips in the new Apple products brings instant payments closer to becoming a common feature of the retail landscape. In the words of Apple CEO Tim Cook, “Apple Pay is going to change the way you pay for things forever.”

The technology allows users to make payments with a simple wave of their smartwatches or smartphones. It heralds the beginning of Apple’s move into new markets, something which Cook has pledged to do for over a year. If successful, the Apple Pay system is expected to revitalize Apple’s stock price, which has been languishing as the company continued to tread water in already-established markets, where they are facing stiffer and stiffer competition from Google’s Android-based platforms.

This is big news for banking app developers, who have been waiting for this exact development to gain traction in the consumer market for a long time. NFC payment technologies have been on the horizon for years, but are only now poised to catch on in a big way.

If you’re an Atlanta iPhone app developer, you’ll want to pay close attention to sales figures relating to Apple’s iPhone 6 models, which go on sale in the United States on September 19. The Apple Watch is also slated for a release in early 2015, and both product lines could open up a world of new and exciting opportunities if they prove to be as popular as many experts expect.