Starbucks was one of the first retailers to offer some sort of payment system with an iPhone app. More and more banks quickly followed and now, the New York City Subway system has jumped on board with an iPhone app that lets you pay for your ride with your iPhone. The app works in conjunction with Visa’s payWave, a new technology that allows users to pay for things, such as their subway ride, all just by swiping their iPhone.
The system is in its pilot stages at the moment and only 28 stops along the Lexington line are going to be offering the fare system. That still means that passengers of the New York City Transit, New Jersey Transit, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But if all goes well and the system turns out to be popular, the system will start to show up in more cities and subway systems throughout the world. The payWave system has already showed up in big cities around the world such as London, Singapore, and Paris.
In order for the system to work, the iPhone must be fitted with an electronic device that would allow the phone to communicate wirelessly with the payWave system. When users want to make their payment, they simply swipe their phone over the payment station. But even though users currently have to buy extra accessories to go along with the system, there are currently rumors that Apple is going to include the device built right into their next iPhone model.