One of the rumored announcements for WWDC would be Apple Pay for the web. Essentially this brings the same secure payments method via Touch ID to online purchases as well, thus covering both traditional brick and mortar shopping and online shopping at the same time. Turns out the rumors were true after all as Apple Pay for the web has been announced.
This works pretty much like how we had originally thought. Websites will soon be able to include the option of allowing users to pay for their online purchases using Apple Pay. When users select that option, the user will then have to authenticate that purchase via biometric security on any iOS device that supports it, like the iPhone, iPad, and the Apple Watch.
If this sounds familiar, it is because there are other apps and services that do rely on external authentication methods. For example sometimes credit card companies might require users to enter a one-time-generated code that is sent to the user’s phone, or generated via a dongle. Services like WhatsApp, LINE, and Viber also rely on SMS code confirmation to verify your account, so like we said, this isn’t exactly new.
However it is new for Apple which should hopefully expand the reach of Apple Pay especially since it does not require online retailers to purchase new hardware like NFC readers and terminals. Apple Pay for the web will be launching this fall where it online websites and retailers such as Etsy, Target, Expedia, United Airlines, Lululemon, The North Face, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal will be supporting the new feature.