eBay-owned and operated payment service PayPal is reportedly sidling up to Apple, whispering sweet nothings in its ear. telling it that it’s just the company to help Apple bring their long-rumored payments initiative to a profitable reality.
Three payments industry executives tell Re/code that eBay-owned PayPal has been pitching Apple on helping the consumer electronics maker bring its long-rumored payments initiative to fruition. These people, who have spoken to contacts at both Apple and PayPal, say that PayPal is essentially willing to white-label parts of its payment service to be used in an Apple mobile payments system — anything from fraud detection to back-end infrastructure, even possibly down to the processing of payments.
“We’ll do it in the background,” they reportedly whisper, “We want to be a part of this.”
Two of Re/Code’s sources say Apple most likely doesn’t need PayPal – or anyone else for that matter – to bring their plans to fruition.
The sources also say it looks as if Apple is finally committed to the iPhone having a role in buying goods and services at bricks and mortar merchants, although it’s not clear which route Apple will take to make this a reality. Sure, there is already the iBeacon technology that Apple uses on a limited basis in their physical retail stores, but recent patent applications indicate Apple is also looking at technologies such as NFC, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.
If PayPal can’t convince Apple to play ball with them, they may be facing a scary future. The eBay owned payments firm would certainly rather be sitting on the same bench with Apple, rather than face them from the visitors side of the field.
Apple spokeswoman Amy Bessette and PayPal spokeswoman Jennifer Hakes declined to comment to Re/Code on the report.
