How Cloud Based POS Systems Are Compatible With Digital Wallets : The Payment Of The Future

Have you ever wondered why Bindo POS talks about being Apple Pay compatible? It’s because we view the world as innovators, as a company that’s taking the next step to pave the way for your retail business to follow. Apple Pay is one option among many for digital wallets, and we think digital wallets are the payment method of the future. We don’t say that just because we think it would be cool; we say it because we see it as the next logical progression in the evolution of payments. Here’s why.

People do everything on their smartphones: make grocery lists, listen to music, program their thermostat, shop online, store boarding passes, get directions, take pictures, share videos, make phone calls, play games, and pay bills. Most people have their smartphones within arm’s reach all day, every day. That makes the smartphone an incredibly convenient way to pay for purchases in store. It’s one less thing to keep track of in your otherwise cluttered purse or billfold.

But are digital wallets secure?
That’s a valid question given the security breaches at retail giants like Target and Home Depot. Before consumers fully adopt digital wallets as a routine way of life, they want to know their personal information is secure.

Digital wallets function through a process called tokenization. The app creates a unique number, a token, for each transaction. That token is the only information shared with the merchant during a purchase, leaving the consumer’s credit card number inaccessible to potential hackers.

If tokenization doesn’t feel secure enough for your comfort level, consider the possibilities of biometric authentication that smartphones allow for. Apple already has fingerprint recognition technology in the iPhone 6. Instead of using a password to access your phone or your digital wallet, imagine having to scan your fingerprint (or one day your retina). Because no two fingerprints are alike, this security feature guarantees nobody other than you uses your digital wallet, even if your phone is lost or stolen. Can you say the same about any of the credit cards you currently carry?

Are banks and merchants ready for the technology associated with digital wallets?
One of the reasons Apple Pay has more momentum already than Google Wallet has enjoyed over the past four years is because of the impeccable timing of its release. Apple Pay released just months before the EMV update deadline of October 2015. How are those things connected, you wonder? Simple. The technology necessary for point of sale systems to read the new chip and PIN cards is called NFC (Near Field Communication). It’s the same type of technology used when a digital wallet communicates with a POS with a wave of the hand. Merchants who do not want to bear the technological responsibility for security breaches will have updated their point of sale systems for the EMV cards. In so doing, many will have also updated to receive payments from digital wallets, killing two birds with one very secure stone.

As for the banks, Apple claims to have up to 85% of them on board with digital wallets. Eventually the others will be forced to follow suit simply because consumer demand will push for it. By the time your children are your age, they will laugh at the idea of carrying and swiping plastic cards to make purchases.

Get on board with the payments of the future. Start your free trial of Bindo POS today. It’s Apple Pay ready!