In an effort to continue the expansion of its relatively new payment system, it looks like Apple is planning on building a dedicated Apple Pay team with the intention to expand the service and bring it to additional territories around the world. The new plans have yet to be officially confirmed by Apple representatives, but a small part of the puzzle has been revealed by a new job listing on the "Jobs at Apple" website, which is advertising to fill a London based Apple Pay Intern position.
The Cupertino company has made no secret of its plans of grandeur for the NFC based payment system that was initially introduced back in September of this year. Although it is currently only live and in use in the U.S., Apple has continually gone on record to confirm that it is "working hard" to get itself into a position to launch in additional countries throughout Europe and the rest of the world. The newly advertised position, which looks to be recruiting for a relatively low-level position, states that Apple Pay is "set to expand across Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa".
In addition to being an integral part of a United Kingdom based Apple Pay team, the chosen candidate will also be heavily involved in the structured and planned rollout of the service into various new areas outside of the United States. This involvement will extend to actively working with "issuers, payment networks and merchants across Europe" to ensure a smooth and seamless experience is achieved when integrating the system into retail outlets.
Apple Play may be extremely simple to use from a consumer’s perspective, but what happens behind the curtain is a complex, logistical labyrinth involving multiple parties from multiple sectors. Considering its history of retaining control over how its products and technologies work, it’s not a surprise that Apple wants an internal employee in place to work closely with all those involved.
As things stand, there is no official date given for when Apple will take the plunge and provide Apple Pay facilities in additional countries. As is so often the case, we have to take an "educated guess" based on the information at hand.
Financial behemoth VISA has already gone on record stating that it is working closely with Apple to introduce Apple Pay within various countries next year. It’s also been reported that the Cupertino company is in advanced talks with Alibaba regarding a potential deal to bring the payment system to the Chinese market.
Keep your eyes on this one folks as it looks like the payment industry is about to get turned upside down.
(via: iClarified)
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.