Apple is making credit card transactions even easier for its iPhone users through two features that can be found on the iPhone. These two features are Apple Pay, and Wallet, and they are free for iPhone users.

 

Apple Pay is used by a customer inputting their credit card, debit card, or rewards card into their iPhone, and then using their iPhone to pay at participating stores or in participating apps rather than using their physical credit card. The iPhone is used for processing purchases by the machine reader. The service is used by utilizing Touch ID, meaning that the credit card owner’s fingerprint is needed in order for a purchase to be processed. This gives an increased degree of security to the user. Apple also keeps credit card information secure by using a device-specific number and transaction code rather than the credit card number, and it never shares credit card information with merchants.

 

Most major banks and credit cards participate in Apple Pay, and a growing number of stores and apps are beginning to, as well. Some stores that participate in Apple Pay and allow customers to process their credit card transactions from their iPhone include American Eagle Outfitters, BestBuy, Coca-Cola vending machines, JetBlue, Kohl’s, Levi’s, Nike, Panera, Petco, Sephora, and Subway. Some stores being added in the near future are Forever 21, Free Poeple, Regal Cinemas, T-Mobile, Ulta, and Urban Outfitters.

 

The second feature available for iPhone users is Apple Wallet, which was formerly known as Passbook. Wallet serves alongside Apple Pay by storing Apple Pay information that is already on the iPhone in addition to other things, such as passes, tickets, coupons, boarding passes, and more.

 

Tickets, airline, bus, or train boarding passes, and coupons can be downloaded to Wallet, making an iPhone the only thing a user needs to carry. Wallet is also capable of processing and managing rewards and loyalty cards and programs. It can be linked up to various loyalty programs, allowing the iPhone user to track and redeem their rewards with ease, never having to worry about being out at a restaurant or a theatre without their card on them again.

 

While iPhone users don’t currently have the ability to send payments to one another through an Apple service, Apple is in the works on changing that. They plan to add a person-to-person payment feature through Apple Pay in the fall of 2017, which will let users pay other iPhone holders with the click of a button. This feature will be useful for roommates splitting the bill on different things, such as rent, groceries, utilities, or social events. While they wait for Apple Pay, they can instead process these person-to-person transactions by installing other apps, such as Venmo or Cash, which let the users input their credit card information, label and process their transactions, and pay one another with the easy click of a button on their iPhone.