Yesterday’s unveiling of the hotly anticipated iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus—as well as the Apple Watch—was just as big a deal as we’ve all come to expect.
What pushes Apple’s announcement beyond the mere introduction of new gadgetry is its introduction of Apple Pay.
Apple Pay makes use of technology called “the Secure Element”—which is a chip that stores encrypted payment information. OpenTable has announced that it’s integrating Apple Pay software into an update that will be available in October.
OpenTable app users will be able to pay their check with one touch—as long as they’re using an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. To pay in stores, users will hold their iPhone in front of a reader and then confirm the purchase with Apple’s Touch ID system, which verifies a fingerprint via a sensor on the phone, Eater reports.
To launch, Apple has partnered with a number of restaurants, including Subway and McDonald’s.
What You Need To Know About Apple Pay
Photo: Business Insider
- It’s only available to iPhone6, iPhone6 Plus, and Apple Watch owners.
- It uses an app called Passbook to securely store any credit cards you want to keep on file. At launch, American Express, Mastercard, and Visa all support Apple Pay. To start, the credit card you have stored in your iTunes account is included by default.
- When you add a credit card to Passbook, it’s assigned a device-specific number to access it. Your actual credit card number is neither stored nor shared. You can add new cards by simply following in-app instructions and taking a photo of each credit card. If you currently use GrubHub on your iPhone, you’re probably familiar with this process.
- At launch, you’ll be able to simply touch your iPhone6, iPhone6 Plus, or Apple Watch to scanners at any of 220,000 physical retail locations to pay. Some major businesses that are on board for the launch include: McDonald’s, Duane Reade, Panera, Walgreens, Subway, and Whole Foods, according to Tech Crunch. The new iDevices will use near-field communication (NFC) technology to communicate with those scanners.
- Your actual credit card numbers will be encrypted and stored in Secure Element, a highly secure, dedicated iPhone 6/Plus chip located in each handset. According to Business Insider, these numbers are NOT stored in iCloud, and are never on Apple’s servers.
- Apple Pay isn’t accessed through a password. It’s accessed through Touch ID—which uses the fingerprint scanner—so only you can initiate Apple Pay payments with your iPhone.
- When you make payments with Apple Pay, the system uses your Device Account Number (not a credit card number) and a “transaction-specific dynamic security code” to process payment. Using this system, your credit/debit card numbers are NEVER shared with merchants—or even with Apple—and instead stay between you and your financial institution.
- You can use Find My iPhone to suspend Apple Pay payments from your device if it is ever lost or stolen.
How OpenTable and Apple Pay Will Work Together
Now that you know the Apple Pay basics, what does this mean for you if you use OpenTable? Users of current-generation iPhones can already make payments at certain restaurants via OpenTable. However, under the current system, you have to set up payments at each particular restaurant in the OpenTable app in advance.
By integrating Apple Pay into this upcoming OpenTable update, OpenTable says you’ll be able to pay with a single touch—no additional setup necessary. Just use your preferred Apple Pay payment methods.
[via PR Newswire, Tech Crunch, Business Insider, OpenTable]
Here’s some more stuff we loved from today:
Parts Unknown announces season four line-up. [Eater]
This concrete wine cooler is gorgeous. [Contemporist]
Rene Redzepi philosophizes about tortillas. [NYT]