IBM Corp. is making Apple Pay available to small and medium-sized ecommerce shops that want make the mobile payment option available to customers.
Clients that use IBM’s WebSphere Commerce or IBM Commerce on Cloud can now implement Apple Pay as a checkout option, Big Blue announced on Monday. The Apple Pay function is compatible in the Safari browser on iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers.
In a statement, Harriet Green, IBM’s general manager of Watson IoT, commerce and education, said the service would help business owners remain relevant to digitally-savvy customers who demand ease and privacy at every step of a transaction.
“By offering Apple Pay on the web, we are making it even easier for consumers to complete purchases without having to waste time looking for credit cards or putting their most private information at risk,” she said.
According to a recent survey by Business Insider, four of the top five reasons that users abandon the online checkout process involve entering personal details online, a drawback that IBM said businesses can minimize by implementing Apple Pay.
While Apple Pay was technically launched in Canada last November, it wasn’t supported by any of the major banks or credit cards: its user base was essentially limited to holders of American Express (which aren’t granted by Canadian banks). The “big five” national banks, joined by Visa, MasterCard, and Interac, finally announced their support for the service in April.
Though its retail use has grabbed headlines, Apple has consistently marketed Apple Pay as a secure, simple alternative to using a credit or debit card. IBM is hoping that simplicity will appeal to businesses, who will now be able to offer their customers an easier method of payment to latch onto.
WebSphere Commerce presently powers over 12,000 online retailers globally.
