Kiosk makers want to take a bite out of Apple Pay

Apple Pay already has jumped to the forefront of mobile payments in its short lifespan, and it appears ready to make the jump into kiosks as well.

According to the Lab, the official blog of Olea Kiosks, Apple Pay’s strength lies in its simple design. In order for a user to use Apple Pay at a bill payment kiosk, they first store their payment information in Passbook. Then, they tap their device to a kiosk, and the kiosk asks the user to verify the transaction by pressing their thumb on the Touch ID portion of the iPhone. The thumbprint acts as identity verification and confirms the purchase.

Apple Pay and the self-service kiosk industry have both been growing at an enormous rate. Apple Pay is now integrated into more than 200,000 devices in a variety of kiosks, from dry cleaners to check-out kiosks. "Merchant adopters of Apple Pay include McDonald's, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo," said Kane Russell, marketer for marketing company Thanx. More than 750 banks and other financial institutions also support Apple Pay. 

Panera was one of the first major players to utilize Apple Pay. "It's more than a mobile-payment system or simply a digital-ordering process," Panera CEO Ron Shaich said in a recent KioskMarketplace.com article. "It's an integrated, comprehensive, end-to-end solution that we believe will reduce friction such as wait times, improve order accuracy, and minimize or eliminate crowding — all while creating a platform for an ever more personalized experience." At Panera, 80 percent of all mobile payments come through Apple Pay. 

According to the Lab, consumers are not only growing more comfortable with mobile payments, they also expect to be able to interact with kiosks and other devices through their phones. So, Olea Kiosks plans to answer that demand by integrating one of their custom kiosks with Apple Pay, joining a new wave of kiosk manufacturers integrating the platform into their devices.

In order to integrate Apple Pay, Olea Kiosks is crafting a custom kiosk to be used at a sandwich chain. They will announce the release date later this year.

However, not all analysts are happy with Apple’s mobile payment solution. "Apple Pay is a solution in search of a problem," Forbes writer Peter Cohen said in his article 4 Perils of Apple Pay. Cohen argues there is little reason for consumers to prefer Apple Pay to other forms of payment. "But the simple reality is that credit and debit cards are not a major consumer pain point — they generally work quickly and painlessly."

Cohen also argues that Apple Pay does not provide as much consumer data as debit and credit cards. In addition, companies must still deal with the same fees that come through using Apple Pay as any other credit card.

But, some analysts also believe Apple Pay is an excellent innovation in customer service. "Apple realized that changing consumer behavior is challenging and only truly hassle-free solutions see broad adoption," Russell said. "Apple Pay reduces the act of paying to a single, effortless tap."

With the rising demand for the option of mobile payments, companies can provide a valuable service for firms wishing to create smart, efficient self-service technologies integrating mobile payments and Apple Pay.