You Don’t Need Apple Pay; Pay for Driving Classes With Sex - http://clapway.com/2015/12/21/you-dont-need-apple-pay-pay-for-driving-classes-with-sex-123/

Here’s one more reason to move to the Netherlands: you can now pay for driving lessons with sex. Forget Apple Pay, forget Google Wallet. Ministers in the country are actively defending the right of driving instructors to offer lessons in return for sex to their clients as one of the payment options.

The Law Allows Driving Lessons in Exchange For Sex So Long As Both Parties Are Over 18

This country has no need for electronic payment services like Apple Pay, which the US can use to make retail purchases or buy coffee. They are using a much more ancient form of payment.

The Netherlands are notorious for having more liberal laws than virtually any other developed country. Home of the famous Amsterdam Red Light District, this country is no stranger to the oldest profession in the book. This development has brought a lot of mixed responses from the public and other government officials, because despite the fact that it could be considered ‘fair trade’, there are some details that need to be tuned out first.

‘Ride for Ride’ Policy is 100% Legal in the Netherlands

A ‘ride for ride’ policy has been passed as undesirable but completely legal. Some political figures, like conservative Christian Union Party’s Gert-Jan Segers, believe it should be banned. His attempt to change the law was futile, and parliament opposed it.

Because prostitution is completely legal in the Netherlands, to the extent where prostitutes need to declare their profession and income to pay taxes, this is hardly a surprise. It’d be completely safe for these escorts to accept ‘ride for ride’ terms, but not everyone who would go through with a trade like this would have an escort license. This is what Segers is arguing, and he has a fair point.

Screw Apple Pay and Google Wallet!

On the side of the defense, Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Transport Minister, said it was completely lawful. Justice Minister Ard van der Steur also jumped to defend the law. Both of them released a letter on why the law was completely acceptable. They say that the point of the law isn’t to offer sex for money, but offering a service in exchange for another service. If this was a matter of sex for money, it would be no different than prostitution.

Google is Blowing Up With Sex for Driving Lessons Searches

Naturally, searches for ‘ride for ride’ have skyrocketed since the debate broke out. There is still a lot of confusion surrounding the topic, since both sides of the argument have a solid point.

There Are A Lot of Things About This Law that Need to Be Straightened Out

On the one hand, offering sex in exchange for a driving lesson is already iffy. The law should state that on top of both parties being over age, there must be solid consent on both sides of the trade. In addition, this should specify whether or not the person giving sexual favors has an escort license. It would be perfectly fair for an escort to accept this kind of payment, but not just anyone.

In the end, this is an issue of preference. The government is only defending the right for driving instructors to request this trade instead of financial payment or electronic payment through tools like Google Wallet or Apple Pay. There are more things to this discussion.

Has the Netherlands Government Been Watching Too Much Game of Thrones?

Would this law be implemented in other countries? Most likely, no. This would be very unbeneficial to a lot of countries, especially those with high rates of rape for all genders. The Netherlands is probably the only nation in the world that can pull this off in a civilized way, but there is a chance that this could backfire.

In a way, this is like a blast from the past. While other companies like Starbucks and KFC are taking payment from iPhones through Apple Pay, the Netherlands are stuck in a more primitive time. There was once a time when sex could become payment for all sorts of things. This is a step backward and also a step forward. Though there are a lot of details to be refined, this could kickstart a trend. If this works well, sex could replace currency for a lot of services. It could be a win-win situation in a lot of ways.

Read: New Sex Toy Uses VR for Ultimate Experience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTMQ0EIfnLY

 

You Don’t Need Apple Pay; Pay for Driving Classes With Sex

China"s UnionPay and Powa Technologies Tackle Apple Pay - http://clapway.com/2015/12/18/chinas-unionpay-and-powa-technologies-tackles-apple-pay-123/

Apple is launching Apple Pay in China in February of 2016, and UnionPay has stepped up to the plate optimize smartphone-based transactions. They will be collaborating with Powa Technologies to upgrade online payments.

UnionPay Joins Hands with UK-based Powa Technologies

UnionPay Network Payments is a subsidiary of China UnionPay, which controls all debit and credit card payments processing in China. The smaller division signed a 10 year deal with Powa Technologies. Powa is a mobile commerce company based in London, England.

Powa Technologies have developed a Square-like dongle for payments. They later moved on to a romnichannel commerce strategy. This last strategy will likely be the heart of the agreement with UnionPay Network Payments as it promotes on-the-go shopping.

The Chinese Company Isn’t After Point-of-Sale Transactions

Unlike Apple, Tencent, Alibaba and Samsung (who is also rolling out Samsung Pay in China as of early next year), UnionPay is focusing on the online-to-offline market. Apple, Samsung, and other e-commerce platforms need partnerships with UnionPay since they control all card-based payment processing in the country. So UnionPay has no need to head face first into that market yet.

The shares are spread pretty evenly, too. UnionPay has 51% share and Powa gets 49%. For the kind of capital that UnionPay handles, it is a pretty amazing break.

They Will Have to bring in Point-of-Sale Transactions Down the Line

The first stage of the agreements makes it possible for consumers to make purchases by scanning codes in stores, online and on printed media. Eventually, UnionPay will have to bring in point-of-sale transactions in order to complete their schemes.

PowaTag Will Support More than 1,200 Global Brands

Powa Technologies will be developing PowaTag omnichannel that will support many worldwide brands, including L’Oreal and Carrefour. The system is based on QR codes, which is also used in WalMart Pay. They are looking to optimize QR code purchases for China. While the deal is not exclusive, it is the first integrated joint venture deal signed between UnionPay and a foreign company.

The Chinese company has 1.3 billion credit and debit card users. They are the world’s biggest merchant acquirer. They have about 6 million merchants in their platform. This makes Western firms like Mastercard and Visa pale in comparison.

The Service Will Debut at Guangdong Province

Guangdong Province has a population of 106 million, and the new UnionPay-Powa service will be rolling out to 100,000 of their merchants. The service will be working with third parties to extend services and make digital services easier and more widespread.

While American mature markets are slowing down in growth, China’s digital markets are skyrocketing. UnionPay is even one of the App Store’s payment options. This shows that Apple is trying to penetrate Chinese markets and that China is willing to work with foreign companies.

UnionPay Announces QuickPass for Mobile

The company’s contactless technology is now rolling out to mobile devices. The near-field-communication service used to work with physical cards, but smartphone users will now be able to keep a mobile wallet. UnionPay is working with 20 commercial Chineses banks to also implement host-card emulation services, trusted service manager services and Token technologies.

This Partnership Will Reach 50 Million Consumers Regularly

This collaboration is targeting to get 50 million regular consumers by combining PowaTag with the O2O products and POS systems that UnionPay handles. This target will hopefully be reached within one year of launch.

Online to Offline services are very popular in Asian commerce. China made about $47 billion with this system in the first half of 2015, which means that this partnership with Powa will generate anything between 3 and 5 billion per year after it launches. China is a very good contender to keep a very hard handle on the Asian market, and Apple will have to go through great lengths to catch up.

Read: China Electronics is taking Over Microsoft Windows 10

Read: China 2 Child Policy is Good for RenRen and Weibo, But Bad for Facebook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58gAy85dwf0

China"s UnionPay and Powa Technologies Tackle Apple Pay

Google Wallet Becomes a Combination of Facebook, Venmo and Paypal - http://clapway.com/2015/12/12/google-wallet-becomes-a-combination-of-facebook-venmo-and-paypal-123/

Electronic payments have evolved greatly in the past two years, from wire transfers to direct payment posts to Venmo to Facebook payment and Google Wallet. The latter has recently gotten an update that enables users to make payments through text message.

Google Wallet Makes Payments With Just an Email Address

Regardless of whether or not they have a Wallet account, people can make payments more easily than ever before. The new announcement made on Monday that now even that isn’t necessary. Payments can now be posted with just a phone number. Payments are posted at lighting speed, sending a secure link that can be accessed by receiver within minutes of sending.

The New Feature Will Roll Out To Google Play and the App Store

Google Wallet got a lot of praise since its inception, so the Wallet team is releasing the latest update both in celebration and in gratitude. While there could be great suspicions that it might be unsafe, the new Google Wallet has a new security feature that lets you lock the app out at a tap, and users can now link a second bank account to their Wallet. This would be the second update the app has rolled out in 2015 with a new design and a few additional features.

Google Pay vs. Apple Pay vs. Google Wallet

Apple Pay was the first popular electronic pay to hit the cybernetic market, followed by Android Pay and Google Wallet, which rolled in with the rest of Google’s Apps. Apple Pay has been really slow to become popular, and not that many companies have been keen on taking up Apple Pay as a valid method of payment. Android Pay has become very widespread despite the fact that its debut is very recent.

The funny thing is, why would Google have two payment services? They already command Android Pay, so the exact function of Google Wallet versus Google Pay is a little blurry. In a very loose interpretation, Android Pay is Google’s response to Apple Pay, while Google Wallet is perhaps Google’s response to Venmo. Samsung Pay has recently rolled out, surely as a response to Android and Apple Pay, but unlike Android and Apple Pay, it works anywhere as long as the user owns a Galaxy.

Venmo and PayPal Have Accommodated Informal Payment

Companies like Venmo and Paypal have turned paying and receiving payment a great commodity. Venmo kickstarted a new trend in social circles. Paying friends for a meal, for gas, for anything is countless times easier. All people need is a phone number, a Facebook account or an email and payments are posted directly to your bank account almost instantly. Though processing takes a little longer, it’s a great tool that makes things very easy.

Google Wallet is Pitting Against Venmo and PayPal

Google Wallet is probably trying to get into the same ball park. Electronic payments are catchy, and may even come to replace any conventional kind of informal payment. It may even get a more business feel, like PayPal and be used by offices and all kinds of enterprises to make payments to remote employees or even freelancers.

Google Is Everywhere

Google has tapped into an amazing number of industries, all by changing the way people view technology. Google has proved that technology has no limits when it comes to applications, and that it can make life incredibly easy. The only risk, and the reason why Apple doubts Google services, is that the security isn’t foolproof.

Though Google has never run into direct trouble regarding security, the nature of the platform makes it more sensitive than other applications, which many argue is more reliable. The bottom line is that Google is Google; they’re well regarded and respected, and it will likely not suffer any breaches any time soon.

Google Wallet Becomes a Combination of Facebook, Venmo and Paypal

Does Canada Need Apple Pay - http://clapway.com/2015/11/17/does-canada-need-apple-pay123/

Apple Pay is set to launch in Canada starting November 17. This service extension was initially announced in October, when Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay would be available to Canadian American Express customers in Canada and Australia in the later part of 2015.

Apple Pay Hits a Third and Fourth Country

Apple Pay was first introduced to the US through the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, and the same feature will be spread out to the iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Mini 4 and 4, which will all be able to make in-app purchases through Apple Pay.

It’s likely that the company saw that in order to get the best out of Apple Pay, it had to go international, much like Google’s Android Pay and Samsung Pay have. Unlike either of those services, though, Apple has relatively high fees per transaction, which is why more businesses haven’t jumped on the Apple Pay boat. Apple gets a .15% cut for every transaction made through Apple Pay, which countries like China and Australia are not up for.

AmEx Puts Apple Pay’s Foot on Canadian and Australian Doors

Canada doesn’t need Apple Pay; in fact, the amount of American Express customers in Canada is astoundingly low. But this strategy is only to test out both the service and the company’s partnership with American Express.

This is only the beginning, since Apple hopes to spread to more AmEx customers around the globe. The outreach to Canada is likely a starting point where Canadian businesses will have the opportunity to bring in Apple Pay if they choose.

Meanwhile, Apple Pay will also be available to American Express cardholders in Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong in 2016.

 

 

Does Canada Need Apple Pay

Instagram is Getting Too Commercial - http://clapway.com/2015/11/07/instagram-is-getting-too-commercial123/

Instagram is now integrating ads into their platform, showing users shopping options and menu items from nearby restaurants. It’s also bringing in new iPhone features, such as 3D Touch and Apple Pay. The layout imposed suggests that the social network is looking to bring in unobtrusive shopping options that keep users in the app and also attract bigger brands to advertise.

The social network is already integrated with a lot of advertising, and not just in the layout of the social network, but within the content itself. However, Instagram is looking to take it into their own hands and bank in on what content makers are getting. The 3D Touch integration will allow users to toggle between options from a clothing brand, and a Shop Now feature will let them carry out the purchase while still remaining in the app. Apple Pay adds to this ‘frictionless shopping’, allowing users to buy something they see while still on Instagram.

Facebook, which is Instagram’s parent company, is obviously banking in on the sales of the products that Instagram generates, since the nature of the platform allows for branding in many places and in many different ways. It only makes sense that it goes a step further.

Instagram is Getting Too Commercial

Apple Pay Comes to Starbucks, Chili"s and KFC - http://clapway.com/2015/10/10/apple-pay-comes-to-starbucks-chilis-and-kfc123/

Apple Pay Has Come to Starbucks!

It’s also been implemented to KFC and Chili’s, and your week probably got that much better because of it.

Now you can pay for your choice cup of coffee with your Apple device, and the company confirmed that it’s rolling out the payment service to certain Starbucks locations before the end of the year. Apple’s hope is to increase its presence and branch out to all of the stores, which will push 7,500 establishments in the US come 2016.

The announcement was made by Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay, and states that some Starbucks stores will begin accepting Apple Pay as part of Apple’s pilot program. They hope to have it in all Starbucks stores in 2016.

It’s Been A Slow Crawl

Bailey went on to mention it Apple Pay would come to KFC’s and Chili’s as well, and it will help the company in widening its reach, therefore giving the company a boost. Apple Pay was launched last year, but it only makes up for 1% of all retail transactions in the US. This is surely because it’s not accepted in various relevant retail establishments.

Starbucks declared that it has been using a mobile payment system, and it makes for 20% of all transactions at US locations, and taking advantage of this, they’re looking to provide customers with every available system of payment. Spokeswoman for Seattle Starbucks Haley Drage added that Starbucks has been using Apple Pay in the UK for a few months, and it was recieved well by consumers, so they’re naturally expanding.

On the other hand, Chili’s debuts a mobile payment system with Apple Pay. They said in a statement that the company is focused on bringing guests the most innovative technology, and Apple Pay is revolutionizing mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay.

Bailey adds that Apple Pay will be very beneficial to KFC once it rolls out, since the company usually has a need for fast payments, and goes on to add that many more businesses of varying sizes are adopting mobile payment technology to be able to accept Apple Pay and it’s contemporaries.

More and More Companies Are Incorporating the Program

There’s no word on whether or not Apple Pay will qualify for its rewards programs, but Bailey confirmed that the incorporation of Apple Pay loyalty program features has been implemented in Panera Bread, Whole Foods, Coca Cola, Kohl’s, Walgreens among others.

Using Apple Pay with Your iPhone 6? Make Sure to Keep That Screen Safe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HY8cv3nkb0

Apple Pay Comes to Starbucks, Chili"s and KFC

Apps like #ApplePay has proven useful, but how does #Barclays stack up in the realm of #mobilepayment? - http://clapway.com/2015/09/15/barclays-mobile-payment-apps123/

The UK-based bank Barclays, rarely compared with the tech giants of Silicon Valley, has joined an arms race for “contactless payment” mobile apps, introducing its Barclaycard app for Android smartphones across the UK. While Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay are all fighting for their fair market share in the US, only Apple Pay has been released in the UK, giving the Barclaycard mobile payment the opportunity to spread like wildfire, in a sense beating Google (who develops Android) to its own devices.

Contactless Payment, What’s That?

The reason that Barclays is such a big player in what would otherwise be a tech-company skirmish is because this so called contactless payment predates mobile apps and smartphones entirely.

The first major rollout of contactless payment technology was in 2008, involving embedding a tiny chip and antenna into credit cards, in order to ease and speed up transactions. Barclays pioneered this technology for its credit cards, its 2008 “Barclaycard” becoming the first and most widespread contactless payment credit card in the UK. The technology as a whole caught on in the UK and Europe much more than in the US.

Contactless payment also requires the installation of near-field communication (NFC) technology into point-of-sale systems. These NFC systems are now widespread in the UK and Europe and growing in the US. But what about in our phones?

In Mobile Payment Market, Google Dug Its Own Grave

In the Age of Apps, the next logical step was to adopt contactless payment technology into our smartphones. Ideally, phones could interact with the same NFC point-of-sale systems that credit cards do, but what is required first is an in-phone NFC transmitter, an equivalent of the chip and antenna in credit cards.

Always the first one at the party, Google shows up in 2011 announcing that all new Android phones will be NFC compatible, in order to prepare for its brand new, state-of-the-art mobile payment technology, Google Wallet!

Of course, Google Wallet is a complete bust. Introduced exclusively to a US market way back in 2011, an ancient market unfamiliar with contactless payment and without an abundance of NFC point-of-sale systems, it simply didn’t catch on.

But oh, come 2014, how times have changed! Apple debuts its mobile payment service Apple Pay, announcing that all iPhone 6 devices will be NFC compatible. While admittedly not earth-shaking, Apple Pay is certainly a bigger hit than Google Wallet, and it set off an arms race for mobile payment apps—apparently all with very similar names. After Apple Pay, Samsung announced Samsung Pay, and Google rebranded its Wallet as—you guessed it—Android Pay. These services have begun to bloom across the US. By 2016, over half of all smartphones are projected to possess NFC technology.

The Android Pay rebranding came after Google’s acquisition of Softcard, an NFC technology backed by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile; Google is now paying big bucks to have Android Pay supported and heavily featured on these carriers’ devices, which may be crucial to the mobile payment app’s survival.

Meanwhile, Back In The UK…

Of these three new payment apps, the only one that has so far reached the UK is Apple Pay (only on iPhone 6 and above, remember). Android Pay is just now making its debut in the US, but remember, all Android devices from 2011 and later are NFC compatible, even in the UK despite it never being a market for Google Wallet. And given how common NFC point-of-sale systems are there, their Android phones are like sleeper cells of mobile payment, waiting for the right time to be called into action…

So along comes the Barclaycard mobile payment app, ahead of Android Pay, to offer a popular service to millions of British Android phone owners, a mobile payment software whose prerequisite NFC hardware Barclays didn’t have to pay for. Google footed that bill, and got nothing for it!

Barclaycard has a number of cool features. If your physical bank card is lost or stolen, Barclays will immediately send you a digital replacement that you can use from your phone. The NFC payment service will be integrated into the existing Barclays app, allowing users to view their bank statements and make account transfers from the same interface that they make payments.

Unless Android Pay can make a significant entrance into the UK market, then Google may find itself losing a tech war to Barclays. An unexpected way to get screwed over by a bank, isn’t it?

Does a mobile payment app sound useful to you? Which one would you use?

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Barclays Joins Arms Race for Mobile Payment Apps