I miss Steve Jobs.
He was an innovator, a dreamer and an artist who fundamentally changed the way we communicate with each other.
Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs.
When Cook’s team eliminated the beloved “skeuomorphism” of Apple products, I was upset. When the iPhone ballooned in size, following in the footsteps of its wannabe-functional cousins on the Android operating system for the first time, I lost hope.
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower,” Jobs once said.
Was Apple Inc. becoming a follower?
As I listened to last September’s World Wide Developers Conference, my hope for the future struggled with my recent pessimistic view of Cook, as he took the stage in his Jobs-like black button-up and jeans.
A keynote is no “Stevenote.”
I expected the announcement of the iOS 8 operating system to be good, but what we got was so much more.
We got Apple Pay.
For a brief moment, it seemed like Jobs was back. Apple Pay will fundamentally change the way we pay for goods and services. Much like video killed the radio star and debit cards negated the need for paper checks, Apple Pay will be the demise of the debit card.
That seems like a bold statement given the track record of other similar products: Visa’s PayWave, MasterCard’s PayPass, American Express’ Express Pay or even Google Wallet. But I don’t know a single person who carries one of those cards in their wallet, and over half the people sitting in the Springfield Business Journal building right now have an iPhone in their pocket.
Apple Pay isn’t a card redesign – scan not swipe – it’s innovation. It’s the future. Cook described the magnetic stripe card payment process as broken for its reliance on plastic cards, an “outdated and vulnerable magnetic interface, exposed numbers and insecure security codes.”
What makes people nervous is that Apple Pay has been touted as your wallet without the wallet. According to Apple, “instead of using your actual credit and debit card numbers, a unique device account number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the secure element, a dedicated chip in Apple devices. When you make a purchase, the device account number, along with a transaction-specific dynamic security code, is used to process your payment. Your actual credit or debit card numbers never are shared with merchants or transmitted with payment.”
And people are clamoring to use it. More than 1 million credit cards were registered on Apple Pay in the first three days of its availability. What started with the three major credit card companies, a handful of banks and a smattering of retailers have multiplied to 218 banks, 67 major chains and 31 apps. As far as local availability, banks such as Commerce, Central Bancorp/Empire, Regions and Bank of America already carry the service. But, as with most Apple products, there is a wait list. The Bank of Missouri Community Bank President Mick Nitsch tells me his institution is eager to join the carrier list. The bank currently sits in line with more than 200 financial institutions.
Apple Pay also is accepted at many chains found locally, such as Panera, Staples, Subway and Walgreens. According to Apple, if a merchant accepts debit or credit cards, it can accept Apple Pay by installing a contactless payment-capable point of sale terminal.
Apple Pay isn’t a new idea. Work with the major credit card companies dates back to at least January 2013.
Maybe I like the idea so much because it’s a remnant of Jobs, one last burst of creative genius from a man who already has given us so much.
This isn’t the first time I’ve opined on Apple’s creator. Following his Oct. 5, 2011, death, I penned a column in his honor. Like many, I never met the man, but Jobs changed my life. Everything good I’ve ever written has been on a Mac. The Lettermans own a MacBook, AppleTV, iMac, iPad and two iPhones. Soon, we’ll own an Apple Watch, maybe two.
Apple Pay still has its naysayers, such as retailers Best Buy and Wal-Mart who’ve declined to use the system, and some, such as my husband, are still leery of storing sensitive bank information on their phone. Change isn’t easy and innovation often takes a leap of faith.
I’m less leery than my husband, but that makes sense. I’m also less leery of spending $150 on the perfect date night dress than he is, too.
Springfield Business Journal Features Editor Emily Letterman can be reached at eletterman@sbj.net.[[In-content Ad]]
