Once upon a time we could only pay for items we wished to buy in cash, but things have changed now, and instead of being limited to cash, or even checks, we can now pay by card, via online banking apps such as PayPal and so on.
However, a new innovation is Apple Pay, alongside Google Pay. Apple Pay is very popular, as Apple is one of the most popular mobile and tech companies of today, but does Apple Pay charge merchants when it is used?
This is what we are here to find out, and what we will teach you about today.
What Is Apple Pay?
Apple Pay is a new way to pay that has been available for use in the United States since late 2014, and since then it has seen quite a substantial growth in its use. It is the default Apple payment digital wallet which allows for NFC technology.
This lets customers make secure and safe contactless debit or credit card payments with multiple retailers worldwide as long as they use a phone, iPad, or a watch which is compatible with NFC technology.
In businesses, if you are already accepting credit card payments, you can probably accept Apple Pay payments as well. Should a customer enter your store wanting to pay with Apple Pay, they will reach for their phone to pay instead of their wallet or purse.
The phone is held near the terminal for payment and that is pretty much it.
Apple Pay is great because it does not only offer in store payments but also online store payments too.
Does Apple Pay Charge Merchants?
Apple Pay is free to use, technically, however, they do make money from each transaction that keeps them afloat, they do this via bank and merchant transaction fees.
However, technically, this does not really mean that you are paying for the service as a merchant. You do need to pay fees before you get running with it, but this is in the obvious way.
So, if you have a physical shop and your current technology is not NFC technology friendly, you will need to upgrade it, buy a NFC payment terminal, or even rent one. You will also need to pay for the software upgrades necessary to ensure it works, and finally, with employees, they will need training in Apple Pay as well.
When it comes down to charges and fees, there is nothing that really directly comes from the merchant, nothing significant anyway. A lot of the fees will come through banks and merchant banks for the payment to go through.
What Does Apple Pay Do Exactly?
To summarize what Apple Pay actually does, all you need to know is that Apple Pay is essentially a platform that supports exchanges between parties, it adds security to payments through encrypting banking and card data, and disintermediating transactions.
The concept actually relies on taking part of the Merchant Service Fee. It takes a part of the fee and can also take interchange fees for it being a part of the transaction as it takes place.
It also takes a fee for helping to make card data able to make a mobile payment.
What Fees Are Associated With Apple Pay?
The fees which are associated with Apple Pay are not massive. Banks and payment networks will pay around 0.15% of each transaction value, which means that for every $10,000 which is spent Apple will make $15.
If a contactless card payment is made via Apple Pay the fees are usually around 2%, levied against you (the merchant), they work in the issuer bank charging 1.7% for the financial transaction to take place.
The network, such as Mastercard, or Visa will usually take a fee of their own at around $0.10. Then the merchant bank takes around 0.2%.
There are some variations in this, but this is the standard, Apple also takes a small bit of interchange fees which is charged by the bank of the issuer.
Benefits Of Apple Pay For Merchants
With all this in mind, it is worth asking if Apple Pay is worth it, especially as a merchant.
Speedy Transactions
One of the pros of Apple Pay is that the transactions are fast, a transaction can take only 3 to 5 seconds to complete, which keeps both staff and customers very happy.
Security
NFC transactions are as safe equally, as EMV transactions, and they are often way more secure than swiped or mag stripe.
The payment security method they use is known as tokenization, so instead of storing data about the card on a mobile phone, iPad, or iWatch, this data becomes tokenized, which is just randomized numbers which are meaningless by themselves.
It Is Trending
Another reason to invest in Apple Pay as a merchant is that it has fast become one of the most popular payment methods out there, allowing and helping people to pay for their purchases in secure ways without even taking their cards out.
Investing in this may mean you get even more business, especially if people may not have purchased from you before because you didn’t have this method of payment available.
Overall
There are not many fees associated with Apple Pay, and even though some fees are charged, those are nothing to worry about, as most of the fees are so minor, it would only matter if each transaction was hundreds of thousands of dollars.
To learn more about this topic, checkout our credit card processing resource guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Pays The Fee For Apple Pay?
It is more personal than you think, as the answer actually differs between merchants. However, Apple will not charge a merchant fee to accept this type of payment.
Should I Put My Debit Card On Apple Pay?
It is actually safer to put your debit card on Apple Pay than to carry it around physically.
Paul Martinez is the founder of EcomSidekick.com. He is an expert in the areas of finance, real estate, eCommerce, traffic and conversion.
Join him on EcomSidekick.com to learn how to improve your financial life and excel in these areas. Before starting this media site, Paul built from scratch and managed two multi-million dollar companies. One in the real estate sector and one in the eCommerce sector.