[psy-q]

It's interesting that they worry about lock-in from Tencent and Alibaba in China while not mentioning the same lock-in and issues for Google, Microsoft and Apple in the rest of the world.

People who don't want to get a Google account already get a degraded product when using Android phones, and I'm not even sure an iPhone works without an Apple ID. That Google Wallet flopped is just a happy coincidence in this regard, but Apple Pay so far hasn't, and then we have the same situation there as with e.g. Alibaba.

Some nations like Switzerland at least have a unified national mobile payment platform (Twint in this case) carried by an alliance of banks. This doesn't put all the power with just one or two privately owned US or Chinese companies, and it brings banking regulations into the game. Maybe that approach should be copied, but it only works in countries that have those regulations and banks willing to cooperate.

[erikb]

Apple Pay hasn't flopped where? Actually it's the first time I here about its existence. So if it's not just 2 weeks old I strongly assume that it in fact has flopped. I have an iphone 6s currently btw.

[psy-q]

I see it advertised a lot and the biggest kiosk chain in Switzerland accepts it. But I don't know anyone who uses it apart from some overheard conversations on the tram. Totally anecdotal, though. I don't think Apple releases numbers.