If you have been reading the news lately, you may well have heard of the latest initiative from Apple - Apple Pay. But what is it exactly and what does it mean for Kiwi retailers?
It is, in fact, an evolution of ‘near field communication’ (NFC) which allows you to use your iPhone 6 or Apple Watch to make contactless payments in stores or use when shopping online (for which you can also use iPad Air2 and iPad Mini 3). You simply load your credit card details onto your devices via Passbook and then use your device to complete transactions securely and anonymously.
So what does this mean for Kiwi Shoppers?
So far so good. So, the question is, are New Zealanders going to be making all their payments with their smart phones in the near future? And, as a shop owner, do you need to do anything differently?
Whilst there are no official sales statistics for the iPhone 6 in New Zealand, Apple had publicly stated that they had over 4 million pre-orders of the new handset worldwide - a new record.
So, on the assumption that a number of New Zealanders got on the waiting list, braved the queues and are now proud owners of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the question remains, will they use Apple Pay?
Well, Apple fanatics tend to be just that - fanatical about Apple and all its products. So, on the surface, the answer would be a resounding ‘yes!’. But, the difference with Apple Pay is that is clearly moving into the territory of online payments a place where Kiwis have historically tended to be a little cautious and, you could argue, a touch behind the curve in comparison to the US.
And it goes further than that. Apple Pay is very USA-centric (at the moment, I hasten to add) which poses four major barriers for adoption in NZ.
The first obvious barrier is ownership of a suitable Apple Device. Currently, the only devices that Apple Pay works on are the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3 and the Apple Watch.
Even if they own a suitable Apple device, approximately half of Kiwi adults do not own a credit card so for these people Apple Pay will offer little in the way of actionable use.
Whilst Apple Pay is compatible with Debit Cards, the Banks that are currently supporting the system are USA only.
The physical stores that support Apple Pay are also conspicuous by their absence in the NZ market (with some exceptions e.g. McDonalds). So even if you want to use the app in a shop, well, you can’t (yet).
What you can do as an NZ e-Retailer
Whether Apple Pay takes off over here or not, online shopping is certainly on the rise, as is the use of mobile phones for browsing the Net.
With more and more Kiwis choosing to shop online, you simply can’t ignore the importance of offering them different payment options at checkout.
For those customers who choose to pay with a credit card, you probably don’t need to do anything more than offer them the ability to do so using a reputable quality credit card payment gateway. But ignore those customers who don’t have a credit card (or don’t want to use one) at your peril!
By far the best approach is to provide a non-credit card alternative payment solution such as POLipay as it allows customers to complete their transaction using their bank account on their preferred device.
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The POLi team
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