Apple Pay’s Mobile Web Move

Coming to a fingerprintable website near you: Apple Pay.

In a world where pay buttons are becoming ubiquitous, Apple is firing its own shot across the bow, with news yesterday (March 23) that the technology giant is gearing up to debut Apple Pay and its fingerprint purchasing method across multiple websites later this year.

The news, according to Re/code, was confirmed by multiple sources. The expanded service will allow Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint offerings to be made available to consumers shopping through the Safari browser (of course, using the iPhone and iPads that allow for fingerprint IDs in the first place). Up in the air: whether the service will be available through laptops and/or desktops.

In terms of availability, it would make sense that the movement toward mobile would be ready by the all-important (that is, to retailers) holiday season. Re/code said an announcement could come as soon as June at the firm’s WWDC conference, which is typically the stomping ground of software developers.

By entering the mobile arena, Apple now goes head to head with companies that have made a mark already in retail and streamlined checkout options. Visa Checkout has more than 10 million users and 250,000+ merchants. PayPal has staked out its own claim with 13 million+ merchants (including half of the top 500 online retail websites), 180 million consumers and its 18 million+ One Touch users. But, then again, Apple owns its ecosystem and hopes to become a serious contender for those already using its mobile gadgetry.

One point of friction: PayPal owns Braintree, which does payment processing. Braintree handles at least some of the functionality of Apple Pay as it is used in apps. And PayPal, as Re/code noted, makes more money when shoppers pay with its eponymous service than they do with Apple Pay. Even so, the movement by Apple to mobile websites is one driven by the reality of how consumers are using mobile devices to shop. Retailers surveyed by comScore saw 9.8 billion visits to actual mobile sites, with another 8 billion done through apps.

Apple may be in need of a tech-fueled boost to get shoppers, well, shopping using its payments method. As PYMNTS reported just last week, more shoppers than ever are putting a toe in the water and at least trying Apple Pay, with 23 percent of more than 3,000 consumers surveyed quarterly by PYMNTS in partnership with InfoScout for the last 18 months. But the conversion rate — that is, browsers becoming buyers — is less sanguine. The repeat buying patterns, and buying patterns in general, show eligible use, defined as people with the right phones in a store that accepts Apple Pay, down 41 percent year over year.

That speaks to the need to spur interest, and ease of use is something that Apple surely hopes to stem the tide — or even turn it. Sounds easy, but as is the case with everything in payments, asking a merchant to integrate a new payment method into its checkout flow is easier said than done. What could make that easier done than said is if there is enough demand from consumers for merchants to want to add it. For that, we will have to wait and see.