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Happy Birthday
Das Wichtigste zuerst: Happy Birthday, Apple Pay Deutschland!
This is because a year ago today, the US payment system from the Cupertino-based technology company was also launched here. As usual, Apple does not publish any official figures. However, there is no question that Apple Pay is a success (also in Germany). Apple Pay kick-started the mobile payment industry. And, since yesterday, even the savings banks have not been able to avoid this technology and have started offering their customers the opportunity to pay via Apple Pay. I have to admit that they surprised me a bit with their onboarding and UX. Of course, it should go without saying that we mustn’t get too carried away – but I have to say that the onboarding experience at my savings bank yesterday was a pleasant surprise. Thank you Stadtsparkasse München!
Lex Apple Pay as a birthday present
For Apple Pay Germany’s first birthday, Germany came up with a very special birthday present, drum roll … tadaaaa, and that is the “Lex Apple Pay”. The competition probably thought great, now the guys and gals from Cupertino even get their own law.
The Lex Apple Pay even received some nice wrapping in the form of the Law implementing the Amending Directive of the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The packaging was so good that even dear Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, was not immediately able to find the present. When he discovered it, he was as happy as the little boy from the IKEA Christmas advert when he was given a pair of underwear.
Total ingratitude or justified anger?
Tim should not make such a fuss. But he did. In fact, Tim was not very conciliatory and complained to Angela (Merkel) about the Lex Apple Pay. He even wanted to give it back, but, as we know today, he did not succeed. Germany remained steadfast and even seemed to revel in their reaction. However, this Schadenfreude was not helpful and also inappropriate. At any rate, this was not a great moment for Parliament. Rather legislative nonsense, as my colleague Susanne has already mentioned elsewhere. Perhaps Germany would have been better advised not to get the present that was Lex Apple Pay at the last minute but to seek expert advice beforehand. This birthday present is, as builders might rather vulgarly say at a construction site, “total shit”.
But before I lower the tone any more, I’d like to refer you to the 47th episode of PayTechTalk. The PayTechTalk panel included Susanne Grohé, Kilian Thalhammer and Hanno Bender, who had a lively discussion about Lex Apple Pay. Hanno, who has long been calling for the end of the “digital highway robbery”, was on the opposite side of Susanne, who has not managed to warm to Lex Apple Pay. Many clever arguments were exchanged. In the end – attention, spoiler! – … Only joking, I hate spoilers!
Wishing you an interesting and informative hour. Enjoy PayTechTalk 47!
Further information and links:
- “Lex Apple Pay“ – Let’s pretend we don’t have a clue… what exactly are technical infrastructure services?: https://paytechlaw.com/lex-apple-pay-technische-infrastrukturleistungen/
- PayTechTalk 46 – Crypto custody business: Amendments to the KWG in connection with the implementation of the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive: https://paytechlaw.com/paytechtalk-46-kryptoverwahrgeschaeft-kwg/
- https://paymentandbanking.com/lex-applepay-sternstunden-in-berlin-und-woanders/
- https://paymentandbanking.com/neue-krypto-regulierung-rechtssicherheit-fuer-banken-und-kryptotechs-aber-keine-veraenderung-des-status-quo-fuer-banken/
About Kilian Thalhammer
Kilian Thalhammer: Kilian is the Vice President Product at Wirecard AG and Managing Partner of Payment & Banking.
Wirecard is one of the world’s fastest growing digital platforms for financial commerce. They offer both business customers as well as consumers a constantly growing ecosystem of value-added services involving innovative digital payment transactions: online, mobile and at the point of sale.
Payment & Banking: Paymentandbanking.com was launched on 31 August 2012 and, with it having been accessed more than 400,000 times in 2017 alone, has developed into one of the most important contact points for the industry in Germany. Since 2015, there is also the periodic Paymentandbanking Podcast, which has around 35,000 listeners every month.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kilianthalhammer/
- https://twitter.com/kilian2002
- https://www.wirecard.com/de
- https://twitter.com/wirecard
- https://paymentandbanking.com/
- https://twitter.com/paymentbanking
About Hanno Bender:
Hanno Bender is a fully qualified lawyer and journalist. He has been head of the “Law and Politics” department at Lebensmittel Zeitung (LZ) since May 2014. Prior to this, he worked for 13 years for the business magazine “Der Handel”, first as business editor, then as head of the “Finance and Law” department and finally from 2008 as a member of the editorial board (“Der Blattmacher”). Both publications are published by the dfv Mediengruppe (www.dfv.de). Hanno’s hobby project is his blog www.bargeldlosblog.de, which looks into topics from the world of payments – from Apple Pay to XS2A.
- www.hannobender.de
- www.bargeldlosblog.de
- http://www.linkedin.com/pub/hanno-bender/5/b1a/a51
- https://www.xing.com/profile/Hanno_Bender
- www.lebensmittelzeitung.net (Paywall)
Cover picture: Copyright © PayTechLaw
