Week in Digital: the Apple of my iPhone

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference took place this week, and the global-scale technology powerhouse took to the stage to showcase a wonderful range of new products and services.

Chief among those was the rebranding of Apple Passbook to Apple Wallet, and its introduction in the UK. Those using London transport will now be able to turn their iPhones into a method of payment for using the service, amongst integration with a variety of shops.

In addition to this, Apple is adding rewards programs and store-issued credit cards to the service in the United States, to shops like JCPenney and Dunkin' Donuts. Rewards programs are a big deal - being able to rack up points for shopping with Apple technology is a sound way to encourage people to make use of Wallet.

One can't help but wonder how this could be better integrated into the financial services market. We've spoken before at Teamspirit about making use of contactless payment services to top up pensions, and driving customer engagement through wearable apps and other convenient technology - Apple Wallet is no different.

In September last year, Apple Pay's introduction hit the fintech awareness bubble like a sledgehammer. A payment system that, unlike its competitors, doesn't store user information, and a huge customer base who already use Apple technology to buy things from services like iTunes.

With currency going digital at an incredible rate, from PayPal to NFC to bitcoin, it's exciting to think about how financial services could start using iPhones to encourage people to make contributions to their pensions or make new investments. Apple's ease-of-use factor is its greatest strength, and if there's one thing that always lends appeal to any financial service, it's customer-level accessibility.

 

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