Apple Pay for Merchants, here’s what we’re doing.

Apple Pay transactions for ShopKeep merchants have been available for four months, and things are about to heat up even more with the announcement of the official launch date for the Apple Watch, April 24th, 2015. There’s been a lot of conjecture about how popular or not this latest hardware offering from Apple will prove to be. But even conservative estimates project that millions of American consumers will soon be armed with this new device. And it doesn’t take a huge leap to imagine they’ll soon be in your store, looking to take advantage of one of its most exciting features, Apple Pay.

Here’s why are some of the steps we’re taking to make sure our customers are ready:

Apple Pay Integration

As we sat watching the initial Apple Pay announcement last Fall one thing really stuck out to us. The initial launch partners of this new service were all big box retailers and chain stores. At ShopKeep, we exist to level the playing field for small businesses and help them to “Take Back Main Street.” Our engineering team really rose to the challenge and we’re proud to say we were one of the very first point of sale systems to make Apple Pay acceptance a reality for small business owners and merchants in America.

Hardware

And we didn’t stop at software. Given the prohibitive cost of legacy point of sale hardware, it’s no surprise that many merchants were put off by the idea of upgrading their POS hardware to keep pace with the two big new payment technologies, EMV chip cards and Apple. But the fact remains that, come October, all merchants must have hardware that’s capable of accepting EMV chip card payments or risk being liable for fraud. At ShopKeep, we’ve worked hard to ensure that this cost doesn’t become a burden, but rather represents an investment. Because that’s what it is.

Our affordable hardware will let you take payments faster, continue to protect your customers’ card details, and ultimately keep your business more secure. We’re currently working with the Ingenico iCMP Bluetooth Credit Card Reader that is ready to accept swipe, Apple Pay, and coming soon, EMV chip cards.

Knowledge is Power

While our development teams have been busy working on the system, other team members have been hard at work ensuring our merchants are up to speed on the important changes and dates relevant to Apple Pay. Our President and CEO, Norm Merritt has even taken the time to write a detailed whitepaper on the changes that the payments industry is undergoing, with a particular emphasis on how merchants can avoid credit card fraud. If you have any questions at all on what these changes mean for you, you can talk with one of our Point of Sale Specialists, at no cost on 800-820-9814.

Remember, we’ve got your back. We’re here to make the transition to Apple for merchants as easy as possible.

Yamarie Grullon

Yamarie Grullon has years of experience creating helpful & engaging content for small business owners. As Director of Content Strategy at ShopKeep, a leading iPad Point of Sale System, Yamarie provides merchants with practical advice on all things related to business or point of sale.