With the potential arrival of Apple Watch in the upcoming months, Apple is looking to expand its Apple Pay options. The service is currently available at more than 40 different store chains, and Apple is currently in negotiation with Chevron to add Apple Pay compatibility to gas stations. But what's next?
USA Technologies announced that it was planning to bring Apple Pay support to more than 200,000 of its self-service payment terminals. This will include coffee brewers, vending machines, kiosks, laundry, pay-parking and many more.
"Our customers are excited to accept Apple Pay at the self-serve locations they operate.....We anticipate that the millions of consumers who frequent these locations will appreciate the convenience and security of using Apple Pay for their everyday purchases, and we believe that Apple Pay will help to drive additional sales for our customers.....We recognized early on the potential for mobile payment and promoted the technology to ensure our customers were ready for this shift to occur," USA Technologies CEO Stephen Herbert said in a press release.
While the majority of the machines USA Technologies have its consoles on are self-serve, users should expect to see them appear in more chain stores (including Starbucks) alongside smaller independent stores across the country.
Apple is also working on expanding Apple Pay to the international market. Current reports predict the arrival of an international Apple Pay release by March 2015.
Apple also submitted a patent for a system that could potentially store Touch ID and (in theory) Apple Pay account securely in the cloud.
