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Contactless iPhone Payments May Be Just Around The Corner

Andrew Orr ·

Contactless iPhone payments could be enabled in a future iOS update, Mark Gurman wrote on Wednesday. It means that small business could accept credit card payments directly with an iPhone, without needing a terminal such as Square. Jeff Butts has more information here.

In order to accept payments on an iPhone today, merchants need to use payment terminals that plug in or communicate with the phone via Bluetooth. The upcoming feature will instead turn the iPhone into a payment terminal, letting users such as food trucks and hair stylists accept payments with the tap of a credit card or another iPhone onto the back of their device.

Podcast

Rolling With Wi-Fi — Mac Geek Gab 859

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

Sometimes you’ve gotta go… and sometimes — make that ALL the times — you need Wi-Fi. Never fear, John and Dave are here to help answer the tough (and fun) questions. Listen as your two favorite geeks pour through the mailbag, trying to answer as many of your questions as possible in the time we all have together each week. Don’t forget to send in your questions: [email protected] and they’ll answer yours, too!

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Should Apple Open its NFC Chip to Third Parties?

Andrew Orr ·

Karen Webster writes about Apple’s position in the payments industry and how Apple’s restriction of its NFC chip has hurt consumers.

Granted, it’s always hard to prove a negative, but not having access to the NFC chip has likely prevented innovators from investing time and money in developing the innovations that could have made the in-store POS experience better for iPhone users. And since iPhone users skew more to the affluent, it also denied those innovators the opportunity to monetize their spend.

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Yubico Authenticator iOS App Now Supports NFC

Andrew Orr ·

While Yubico has a security key that plugs into your iPhone via Lightning, the app also supports NFC YubiKeys now.

Instead of storing the time-based one-time passcodes on a mobile phone or computer, Yubico Authenticator generates and stores one-time codes on the YubiKey. A user must present their physical key in order to receive the code for login. This not only eliminates security vulnerabilities associated with a multi-purpose computing device, but also offers an added layer of convenience for users that work between various machines.

Podcast

iCloud Keychain vs. Catalina Cage Match – Mac Geek Gab 786

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

Today, your two favorite geeks dig into your questions about recovering photo data, removing malware, resolving iCloud Keychain in macOS Catalina, and more. But that’s not all! You’ve got some great tips for automating those un-automatable Personal Reminders, fixing DNS, Mono Podcast Listening, and creating disk images. All of this and more from Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun, as soon as you press play. Do it now and don’t get caught!

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A Cashless Society Could Affect Strippers and Other Sex Workers

Andrew Orr ·

I’ve written musings here and there about the cashless society, but sex work as an affected industry hadn’t crossed my mind. I think it’s an important conversation to have, though. I wonder what an alternative could be? Special jewelry with NFC chips that can accept peer-to-peer payments? Imagine tipping a stripper with Apple Pay. Sorry Tim Cook.

But without cash, the club I work at is free to exploit. Cash handed directly to a dancer gets pocketed, but credit card charges are skimmed—and because workers are more or less off the books, we have no recourse to contest absurdly high fees. When a customer pays several hundred dollars to spend time in a dark room alone with a dancer, the club takes a 70 percent cut.

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iOS 13 NFC Enables More ID Scanning

Andrew Orr ·

Last week we reported that iOS 13 NFC will support Japanese identity cards. Now the German Federal Ministry of Interior announced support for its ID cards as well.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior, for construction and homeland welcomes this important step. This will soon allow users of Apple’s mobile devices to benefit from digital sovereign applications such as ID, ePass, and eVisum [including] in person checks at international airports.

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New Apple Pay NFC Stickers Make it Faster to Pay

Andrew Orr ·

Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay, announced Apple Pay NFC stickers recently.. Once tapped they trigger Apple Pay purchases, so you don’t need to download a separate app.

With the new support, an iPhone will know how to read a specially-encoded NFC tag (that can be as inert as a sticker) and automatically show the Apple Pay purchase interface when a user holds their device near it. No third-party apps or other set up required.

At launch Apple is partnering with Bird scooters, Bonobos clothing store, and PayByPhone parking meters.

News

NFC on iPhone Can Be Unlocked, but Should You Care?

Jeff Butts ·

While NFC might always be limited to Apple Pay officially, more advanced users have been hoping the technology will be unlocked for other purposes. A popular jailbreak developer has done that, and Jeff Butts thinks it’s great for some and unimportant for most people.

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Apple in a Standoff with Australia's Banks Over Apple Pay

Jeff Gamet ·

Don’t count on Apple Pay coming to most of Australia any time soon because the ongoing fight between Apple and the banks is only getting worse. Apple is calling Australia’s banks a cartel looking to squeeze more money out of customers, and the banks say Apple is trying to kill competition. Both sides are digging in their heels, and it doesn’t look like they’re interested in finding a compromise.