Apple to Charge Banks in New Payment System: Report

Apple Inc will charge fees from banks every time consumers use their iPhone to make purchases, a move that will give the company a cut of the growing mobile payments market, Bloomberg reported citing people with knowledge of the arrangement.

Apple unveiled a watch, two larger iPhones and the mobile payments service Apple Pay on Tuesday.

(Also see: Apple Pay Looks to Accelerate Mobile Payments Push)

The new iPhones will come equipped with the payments service, which launches in the United States next month and allows users to pay for items in stores with their phones instead of physically presenting their credit or debit cards.

Under the deals struck individually with each bank, Apple will collect a fee for each transaction, the report said.

The introduction of the new payment service comes at a time when the U.S. mobile payments market is expected to see steep growth: Forrester Research forecasts U.S. mobile payments will reach $90 billion in 2017, a 48 percent increase from 2012.

Apple was not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

© Thomson Reuters 2014

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