“Apple Pay, the new phone-payment system unveiled by Apple Inc. two weeks ago, is a big leap forward,” David Weidner reports for MarketWatch.
“An 18-month-old digital-rewards system called Thanx is set to announce today that it has reached an agreement with MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. to access card data for the purpose of rewards programs. Simply put, Thanx will allow retailers to gather data, with the consumer’s permission, for the purpose of marketing, promotions and rewards programs,” Weidner reports. “Thanx operates outside of Apple Pay. That means it can be used with a card swipe, with a Google Wallet payment or other forms of payment as long as the store has one of those readers that you aim your phone at.”
“Countless variations of smart cards — the ones with that little computer chip in them — have launched and failed. That’s been a huge source of disappointment and lost revenue in the financial-services arena. But the smart-card effort failed for mostly the same reason: because the ease-of-use equation hasn’t been eliminated,” Weidner reports. “‘Apple Pay has put a premium on effortlessness,’ said Thanx founder and Chief Executive Zach Goldstein. ‘That’s a turning point.'”
Read more in the full article here.