That drum beat you hear is the sound of more merchants and payment getting on the Apple Pay bandwagon. Today we've heard via AppleInsider and CNN that Square will be supporting Apple Pay in 2015, and from Patently Apple that Tickets.com is starting to support Apple Pay through venue-related apps that use the service.
First, Square founder Jack Dorsey noted in a CNN interview that Square would be supporting Apple Pay next year, although he didn't divulge exactly how this is going to happen. Neither the current Square Reader (which plugs into the headphone jack on just about any smartphone or tablet) nor the iPad-based Square Stand work with NFC-based payment services like Apple Pay, so adding the capability might require all-new hardware. What the company may have up its sleeve is using an all-software solution that utilizes Apple Pay and Touch ID for verification of purchases through an app, which would not force merchants to shell out for new equipment.
However, Square started taking pre-orders this month for new card readers that will support chip cards -- what the credit card issuers are switching to next year -- so perhaps the company will quickly make a switch to NFC compatibility as well. It's all as clear as mud right now.
What is clear right now is that Tickets.com, a company that provides technology solutions to "more than a thousand sports and entertainment clients around the world", has just launched integration with a single venue with support for Apple Pay.
That venue is The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, CT, and a new app amazing called "The Bushnell" lets patrons buy tickets to concerts and events using Apple Pay. Tickets.com says that it will roll out in-app Apple Pay mobile payments support to other sports and entertainment clients, including Major League Baseball teams via the MLB.com At The Ballpark app.
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