14 DAY TRIAL // Interviewed recently regarding a plan to bring mobile banking to low-income areas around the globe, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates referenced Apple’s newly-introduced payments service.
Gates is out of the race, so to speak, as far as the tech sector is concerned. While he certainly wishes the best for Microsoft, he’s more focused on his philanthropy than he is on beating Apple to the finish line.
Apple Pay is “fantastic”
You can’t bother Gates to trash-talk Apple anymore. Heck, he hardly did it even when he and Steve Jobs were at odds. No. These days, he’s actually happy when Apple or Google churn out something great.
As far as Apple Pay was concerned, he had this to say.
“Well, Apple Pay's a great example of how a cell phone that identifies its user in a pretty strong way lets you make a transaction that should be very, very inexpensive. So the fact that in any application I can buy something, that's fantastic. The fact I don't need a physical card anymore, I just do that transaction and you're going to be quite sure about who it is on the other end, that is a real contribution.”
Not for me
Gates said that, as much as he wished to bring mobile banking to poor countries, he couldn’t do it with Apple Pay because it didn’t fit his model. Also, Microsoft doesn’t currently have a mobile payments system. Which is a shame, considering that it’s holding up his philanthropy plans.
“No,” he replied when asked if he’d consider leveraging Apple Pay. “The – the kind of basic things underneath aren't the things that Apple Pay was involved in. Apple Pay will take anybody they've signed up for the payment instrument.”
“So they're not involved in driving the efficiency and the super, super low fees for low amounts of money. Now of course when we get these things as they branch out into other countries, having interoperability for people who happen to buy their devices will be worth doing,” added the Microsoft co-founder.
An eye on the future
Gates may not be regarded as a true visionary, but he does have a good sense of predicting where technology is headed. After all, he helped pioneer the personal computer.
“And all the platforms, whether it's Apple's or Google's or Microsoft, you'll see this payment capability get built in. That's built on industry standard protocols, NFC. And these companies have all participated in getting those going. Apple will help make sure it gets to critical mass for all the devices.”
Apple Pay will be available on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as on the Apple Watch. Customers simply bring their device close to the NFC receiver at the counter and authenticate the purchase, either with their fingerprint on the iPhone or with a double click of a button on the watch.