Every year, Apple comes up with something kick-ass that revolutionises the whole industry and creates newer trends (we all know how bad apple users flaunt their gadgets). In 2013, it launched the iPhone 5S with ‘TouchID’ and in 2014, transcending its own benchmarks, it launched the highly anticipated iPhone 6 and 6 plus.
Along with them came Apple Pay, so you can use your iPhone to pay for your Apple watch, so you can pay for your things with the apple watch that you paid for with your iPhone. Confused? Well, #just apple things!
The worst affected would be the current industry leader: PayPal.
What is Apple Pay?
As apple says, it is “Your Wallet. Without the Wallet.” It is Apple’s first mobile payment and digital wallet service that uses its phone’s ‘TouchID’ to make payments.
Unlike its competitors, it does not require any specific payment terminals and will work with top debit and credit card companies like Visa, Master Card, American Express etc.
The service has currently been launched only in the US with its international roll out planned for the near future.
What is PayPal?
Since its inception in 1998, the California based PayPal has revolutionised e-commerce and is now the world’s largest internet payment company or digital wallet. It used to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay but the latter has now decided to turn it into an independent entity.
The arrival of Apple Pay has challenged PayPal’s long held regime at the top.
We now compare both of them on various aspects:
- User Base
As far as user base is concerned, PayPal has 138 million user accounts that is significantly dwarfed by Apple’s base of iTunes accounts that has around 800 million accounts. The sale of the new iPhone 6 and the 6 plus will further add to that number.
But it is very difficult to establish a new payment method. There are many iTunes accounts that have not even shared their payment methods and data. So, even though Apple Pay has an upper hand here, PayPal also depicts a strong case.
- Availability
While PayPal is available across iOS, Android and Windows devices; Apple Pay is only available, currently, only to iPhone 6 and 6 plus users.
Thinking about using Apple pay? Well, first buy an iPhone!
- Ease Of Access
When making an in-store purchase, PayPal requires users to open the app, find the store and check-in. They then have to choose which account they’d like to pay with. The transaction is complete then.
This at times, may seem a bit cumbersome.
On the other hand, using Apple Pay is a cakewalk. All users have to do is position their iPhone near a payment point at a store, hold their finger on their Touch ID and then it is all done! A vibration and a beep will let users know the transaction was successful. There’s no need to do anything else.
Apple has also combined with a few applications like Airbnb, Target and Panera Bread. The users can use Apple Pay to pay with a single touch. Checking out is also easy as selecting it and placing your finger on the ‘touchID’.
- Security
Perhaps the most important feature, payment credibility and security is extremely important.
With Apple Pay, Apple and merchants don’t see or store any of your private information. Each credit or debit card is assigned a unique device account number, encrypted and store in the phone’s Secure Element Chip. When it’s time to make a purchase, the device account number and a dynamic security code are used to complete the transaction. Apple will never know what you purchased, the company said, and you’ll still get rewards points on the credit cards you use.
If an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus is misplaced or lost, users can go to Find My iPhone where they can put the device in “lost mode” or wipe it completely.
PayPal stores personal information, like credit card numbers and billing addresses, on its servers and promises it is “heavily guarded, both physically and electronically,” according to the company’s website.
The Verdict!
Both the payment methods are set to battle it out in the coming future. PayPal has also got something in store as it is gearing up for an IPO after its ‘divorce’ with eBay.
Apple Pay promises a lot with its ease of access and safer techniques but PayPal also has the merit of availability and existing user base.
But after considering all aspects, we can conclude that the former will surely emerge as a head turner and acquire the latter’s market share.
By Yash Jain
