A Missouri lawmaker is pushing a measure that would require identification each time a person uses Apple Pay with their iPhone or other mobile payment systems on their non-Apple phones.
“Democratic Rep. Joshua Peters of St. Louis says the bill he introduced Wednesday requires customers to show a state driver’s license or other identification when they use a mobile wallet app or other electronic payment system,” The Associated Press reports. “He says it will prevent fraud if the mobile device is lost or stolen.”
AP reports, “Merchants would have to record the license or identification number or could be responsible for the illegal purchases made if a device is reported stolen.”
Brief article in full here.
MacDailyNews Take: You know, because nothing proves iPhone ownership like a driver’s license. The “logic” of some politicos never ceases to astound.
Leave our Apple Pay alone, dummy! If we’re forced to take out our ID each time, we might as well just take our our credit card, thereby negating all of Apple Pay’s appeal in one fell swoop. Apple should contact this simpleton and others like him and nip this in the bud with clear explanations as to why this is a bad, totally unnecessary idea.
For other, more insecure systems, perhaps this is an idea with some merit, but for Apple Pay, which requires the user’s unique fingerprint to make a payment, it only serves to take an extremely convenient and secure payment method and make it inconvenient – all because some clueless politician hasn’t bothered to take the time to understand something as basic as Touch ID before pushing misguided, ignorant legislation that ruins a perfectly secure and seamless system.
Contact information for Rep. Joshua Peters:
Phone: 573-751-7605
E-Mail: joshua.peters@house.mo.gov
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Robert” for the heads up.]