Circle adds Apple Pay support to help crypto-related businesses

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Apple Pay is now supported by Circle. For the uninitiated, Circle is the issuer of the USD Coin, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. In an official announcement, Circle said,

"We’re excited to announce that eligible businesses who build with Circle can now help further boost their sales by accepting Apple Pay — an easy, secure, and private way to pay. Customers can quickly checkout using the devices they carry every day. Apple Pay is also a safer and faster way to pay using the Safari browser and in apps because customers will no longer have to create an account or fill out lengthy forms."

This addition is intended to bring cryptocurrency and traditional payment systems closer together. The move will also benefit crypto-native businesses by making it easier to accept payments while not excluding non-crypto customers. Furthermore, traditional businesses can use this enhancement to shift more retail payments to digital currency.

Circle's strategic partnership with Apple will enable payment via Apple's Safari browser or in apps on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and other supported devices. As a result, customers will no longer be required to create an account or fill out lengthy forms. Users must first create a Circle account and an Apple developer account. They will also be able to connect to Circle's payment solution via API integration.

Apple Pay currently does not support cryptocurrency transactions. However, as part of this initiative, Apple Pay can now be used to make payments in Circle USDC, which will help boost business sales. Circle stated that in the future, it would introduce more payment methods to help reduce payment friction at checkout. The company said,

"This is just one step on our continued mission to bring the worlds of traditional and digital-native payments even closer together. At Converge22, we announced additional merchant services that will allow vendors to accept payments in cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC), alongside even more features to reduce checkout friction and improve the payments experience. It’s all designed to help businesses unlock the benefits of USDC and connect with customers no matter how they choose to pay."

It is worth noting that Apple has over 1.8 billion active devices around the world. In a Q1 2022 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated. Apple Pay is the second most popular digital wallet in the United States, trailing only PayPal. Meanwhile, Circle added Polygon USDC support to its payments and treasury platform in June.

Shashank is founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist.