Apple Could Debut a Credit Card This Monday

According to Bloomberg, Apple could be in partnership with Goldman Sachs to create a new credit card, with some extra features for Apple Pay. This credit card would be revealed this Monday, at their service-centric event.

Personally, this seems weird to me. I think most people have enough credit cards in their lives and I find it hard to believe that this credit card will be any better. The only incentive would be special features in the Wallet app, which are arbitrarily tied to one specific card. I think a better approach for Apple would be to use their good standing image of privacy, and integrate a budgeting section into the Wallet app, that works with any card in the app. Or maybe finally let us scan more types of barcodes into the app. The Wallet app could have so much potential but it's seldom used because what can be done with it is so contextual. There are opportunities to expand it but Apple isn't taking them.

Apple Pay Student IDs Rolling Out to Select Schools Today

Student ID cards can be a pain to constantly take out at a university. They're used for everything, from going to the gym, to using your meal plan, to attending a career fair. With NFC on the rise and magnetic strips on their way out, it's about time that smartphones and student ID cards got together. Today, students attending Duke University, University of Alabama, and University of Oklahoma can start using their student ID card on their iPhone and Apple Watch. When set to Express Mode, this works like the Suica card for Japanese transit when used for Apple Pay. You don't have to open any app, you just have to tap your iPhone or Apple Watch to the scanner and it just works. Johns Hopkins, Santa Clara and Temple Universities will have student ID support by the end of the year. I can imagine that plenty of universities will be added throughout 2019.

UK Working on Driver's License Compatible with Apple Wallet

When Passbook first came out, I hoped that driver's licenses would be compatible in some way. Today, an official version of this has yet to be seen, but the UK is currently working on a solution. According to Oliver Morley of the UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, a prototype is being developed for a digital driver's license compatible with Apple Wallet. It should be noted that it is intended as an "add-on" for a driver's license, not a complete replacement. My only hope is that if this takes off in the UK, the US will be quick to follow.

So here's a little prototype of something we're working on #drivinglicence pic.twitter.com/a5eItrdiNI

— Oliver Morley (@omorley1) May 13, 2016

Apple Pay Coming To KFC and Chili's

I forgot to mention that full Apple Pay integration will also be coming to KFC and Chili's. I'm not sure if they have any rewards programs, but if they do, they'll probably be getting the same support that Starbucks will get. What's cool is that Chili's will have a small Apple Pay-enabled kiosk that will enable people to pay with Apple Pay from the table and leave without needing to pay an actual person. Let's hope we see more restaurant chains doing this in the near future!

Apple Pay Coming To Starbucks

Apple Pay is coming to Starbucks, and here's why you should care. At Apple's WWDC event, whenever they talk about Passbook, Wallet, or Apple Pay, it's always a disappointment to see what they talked about isn't available, or at least doesn't function as advertised, at launch with the launch of the next iOS release later that year. However, Starbucks is going to prove this wrong with a fast rollout (hopefully) next year. Let me explain... At WWDC, Apple revealed that you'd be able to hold your iPhone (or Apple Watch) near a compatible NFC reader, and it would pull up any rewards card or coupons for that store. Then, you'd use Touch ID to beam that info to the terminal and it'd be applied to your transaction. Sounds pretty cool, right? Now my hope is that Starbucks will implement this into their system, allowing users to use their Starbucks gift cards to earn Starbucks rewards all via NFC and Touch ID. That's my hope anyways... Apple Pay VP, Jennifer Bailey, says it will support Starbucks Rewards, and she did brag about this feature at WWDC, so I think that's a reliable source. However, we have seen other companies go back on their word to support Apple's services (Adobe, Fitbit, etc.). Anyways, let's hope we get this feature.