ApplePay in Browser – March 2016

News today from Jason at Re/Code – ApplePay in Browser this Year

OK.. so I was a year off! (see Blog ApplePay in Browser by Summer 2015).

Not much surprise here.. as I outlined in my January blog on topic ApplePay in browser has been for over a year. I don’t have time for a long blog so will make bullets on what I think are latest “big items”

• The scale of this effort is huge. Having a phone OS pass token assurance info through web page, processor, network, issuer is massive. Payments are indeed in the OS and Mobile is ALSO in the payment network. Massive win for Visa and Mastercard here.
• There is NO new rate tier YET. Per my Card Holder Present (CHP) update last month the network change here is huge. I firmly believe 95% confidence that Apple will be passing through new biometric (token assurance) information as part of this effort. Banks will be consuming this information within their risk models to assess the validity and tune (eCommerce tokens and POS tokens with biometrics and ID). The banks have built an world class facility in Early Warning and Payfone to work with both Apple provided consumer auth and MNO provided information to make sound risk decisions. However these models need “baking”. I expect to see a CHP push last half of 2017.
• This means that the merchant value proposition is not about payment cost, but rather about consumer experience. In the next year braintree and stripe will have a new integration.. but their downside is that V/MA provided tokens will be the only thing they see.
• Less well understood downside is with Card acceptance infrastructure. As I outlined 2 years ago, Apple always thought that BLE instore was the way to go (and I agree).  If payments can be done in eCom at no rate disadvantage then existing POS infrastructure is in trouble.. as consumers can checkout on the phone with minimal POS interaction.
• As I outline in eComm Thoughts the industry is being transformed.  ApplePay in browser is 6 different companies, platforms and networks coming together within new rule sets, messages and pricing. I will need to write another blog on this one..