Le Monde | • Updated | By
It’s official. Apple Pay, the mobile payment solution of the Apple brand is available in France. Rumors were rife in recent days on the Web. Tuesday, July 19, the Cupertino company finally confirmed the news. The Hexagon becomes the eighth country in the world, and the third on the Old Continent after the UK there a year, and Switzerland there are ten days to experience this payment.
Launched in October 2014 in the United States, mobile payment service allows users to pay for purchases in seconds with their iPhone with a touch of a finger using the fingerprint sensor of the phone. All without having to leave their credit card. This solution, based on NFC contactless payment technology, works both for purchases made in shops or on mobile applications. But with a caveat size: only the most recent iPhone models (iPhone 6, 6 S and SE) and the Apple Watch are compatible
For her arrival in France, the California group s’. relied on the banking group BPCE and Carrefour distributor. “This new mobile payment solution, undoubtedly seduce [...] new customers,” , welcomed Francois Perol, chairman of BPCE, in a statement. Apple may also rely on the support of Visa and MasterCard credit card networks. For their part, merchants accepting Apple Pay will benefit to push their loyalty programs, coupled to the electronic wallet of the brand.
Decline in sales of its smartphones
the development of mobile payment is a challenge to the apple brand, faced for the first time in its history to a drop in sales of its smartphones. “ The challenge is absolutely not the payment itself, Analysis Thomas Husson, Forrester. In the medium term, it is primarily to create a loyalty to its ecosystem rather that generate margins in a highly competitive payments market where only the volumes are large. “ Apple account on this new service to attract users and boost sales of phones. In the last quarter, sales of the brand of smartphones accounted for only 21% of total smartphone sales in France
A strategy whose effects remain for now barely visible across the Atlantic. The Cupertino remained relatively quiet on the results of the Apple Pay. According to research firm eMarketer, only 23.8% of iPhone users in the United States had tried in June. “Changing consumer behavior in terms of payment and stimulate the adoption of this new solution will take time “ says James Wester, IDC
Read also:. Apple wants to boost the services of its iPhone
D especially as the French “not easily change their practices, especially in the financial industry” , says Julien Maldonato, Deloitte. And the benefits are still unproven. “From a customer perspective, the functional superiority of mobile payment is not huge. It takes out his phone, identifying “ adds Bruno Saint-Florent at Oliver Wyman. And only 29% of traders payment terminals are compatible with Apple Pay, by GIE Cartes Bancaires. But by 2020 at the latest, the entire fleet will be equipped.
Banking Competition tricolor
Apple must also deal with competition tricolor banks. The Crédit Mutuel-CIC already offers mobile proximity payment Fivory with his application, which will be deployed in Auchan stores in 2017. BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, Banque Postale and Crédit Mutuel Arkéa together created the wallet Paylib electronics that can pay for purchases on the Internet. They are working on an extended version of the store that payment should come by 2017. Their PayPal competitor also aims to engage in local shops with its own housing payment “PayPal Here”.
Unlike the US institutions, banks seem the Hexagon, with the exception of BPCE, unwilling to accept Apple as a new intermediate for their clients. Because the way, the firm at the apple takes a portion of their commissions. “For consistency, the banks can not tell the European authorities that their margins will allow them hardly survive then give half to Apple” says a banker.
“this is a zero sum game for the banks as a whole, but for a given bank, especially if the first is positive,” says Thierry Mennesson associated at Oliver Wyman. Accused of “brought the wolf in sheep ‘, BPCE hopes to attract new customers and bring back those who were inactive. Besides the benefits in terms of image
Read also:. Mobile payment lag behind the US
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