Apple partnering with American Express to let iPhone 6 owners use their phone to pay for goods in physical stores
Apple Working With American Express on iPhone 6 Mobile Payments — Apple has reached an agreement with American Express to work together on its new iPhone payments system …
Context & Ripple Effects
This Re/code report lands on the same day as Bloomberg's account of Apple lining up all three major card networks — the Visa and Mastercard deals alongside this American Express one — so the wallet, still officially unconfirmed, appears set to launch with broad issuer coverage from day one.
Timing points squarely at the September 9 event, where Apple's wearable unveiling is already confirmed; a payments capability built into the iPhone 6 would give both new devices a shared hook and give the networks a fresh channel into Apple's upgrade-cycle buyers.
First-order effects
- American Express would gain a place at launch on Apple's newest hardware, putting AmEx cards one tap away for iPhone 6 owners paying in physical stores.
- By signing the card networks rather than negotiating bank by bank, Apple gets one integration spanning many issuers — and the networks get placement on the device their premium customers are about to buy.
Second-order effects
- Card issuers outside the three named networks face pressure to join the wallet before launch or watch their cards sit unused at Apple-enabled terminals.
- Android-side mobile wallets now compete against a bundle of Apple hardware, secure storage, and all-major-network backing, forcing rivals to match on merchant acceptance as well as software.
Third-order effects
- If the wallet ships as rumored, the phone begins displacing the plastic card at US checkout, shifting the consumer-facing payment relationship from banks toward handset makers.
- Device makers entering payment rails by negotiating at the network level concentrates leverage over individual banks, a structure likely to shape every future hardware-wallet entry into finance.
The trend: Smartphones are moving to replace the physical card at checkout, with Apple negotiating directly with card networks to put its wallet on the iPhone 6 ahead of the September 9 reveal.