Apple Pay To Expand ‘Beyond Apps’ To Websites

Apple Pay users could soon be able to pay for good and services on websites using just their fingerprint, according to reports.

At present, Apple Pay allows iPhone owners to pay in physical stores by tapping their device onto a card reader and in iOS applications that use stored card details.

However with the update, retailers would be able to build Apple Pay functionality into their browser-based stores, allowing shoppers to complete payments without entering card details using the TouchID fingerprint sensor.

Updates to iOS and Apple’s Safari browser will apparently take place before Christmas, according to Re/code, and could be extended to desktop systems as well.

Touchy

Such a move would pitch Apple into the highly competitive ecommerce market, placing it alongside the likes of PayPal, whose recently-launched One Touch service offers a similarly-speedy way for online shoppers to pay.

One Touch launched in the UK last summer, and allows retailers to greatly speed up the checkout process in order to keep their customers engaged across mobile and desktop.

Since its launch in July, more than 250,000 stores in the UK have pledged their support for Apple Pay, with nearly all the country’s major banks now also making their services available.

A recent study by analyst firm Juniper Research has estimated that that the number of annual purchases made via mobiles, tablets, desktops and other connected devices should reach 125 billion annually by 2018 – 60 percent more than the total number of transactions in 2015, as more and more consumers look for greater flexibility.

Apple has been contacted for comment.

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