*By Alisha Haridasani*
Apple wants to turn its Pay function into a bigger revenue stream by expanding the use of its cashless payment tool to include a wider range of transactions.
At its annual developers conference this week, Apple announced partnerships with six American universities to incorporate their students' IDs into the Pay and Wallet system.
“When you look at students, if you’ll remember, you use your ID to do so many things ー to get into your dorm room, to go to the library, to pay for your food and your meal plan, to check in to the work out facilities,” Jennifer Bailey, head of Apple Pay, said in an interview with Cheddar’s Hope King. “Now having it in their phones in a secure way, we think students are going to love it.”
Apple Pay also launched a transit payment system in four Chinese cities earlier this year, allowing users to pay for train and bus rides using the Pay tool.
“People love to use it for everyday commuting,” said Bailey. The feature is available in cities in Japan, as well as Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, Chicago, Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City. There are plans to integrate it with New York’s MTA system.
Apple’s efforts to expand the Pay and Wallet tools are part of its wider strategy to boost its services unit, which includes Pay, Music, and the iCloud. As iPhone sales start to slow, the company's services business become more important.
Revenue from Apple’s services accounted for around 15 percent of revenue in the [second quarter](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/Q2_FY18_Data_Summary.pdf), bringing in $9 billion. While Apple doesn’t break down how each unit fares, the CFO Luca Maestri told [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-01/apple-paid-subscribers-grew-by-100-million-from-year-ago) there are 270 million paid subscribers of its services.
The company is also investing more than [$1 billion](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/25/business/media/apple-hollywood-streaming.html) building out its entertainment unit. Details are sparse, but so far the company has courted the Hollywood stars Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Damien Chazelle, and Steven Spielberg for a dozen projects that are slated to be released next year.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/apple-pay-vp-jennifer-bailey-on-future-of-mobile-payments).
While many are excited to watch the final two NFL teams square-off and see which one ultimately takes home the trophy, some, on the other hand, are there for another mian attraction -- the commercials. Companies during this year's game are looking towards the future From electric vehicles, to robots, and crypto-currency, several first-time advertisers are expected to join long-time advertisers like Pepsi, Budweiser and Doritos during the NFL's biggest game. Tom Morton, Global Chief Strategy Officer at R/GA, joined Cheddar News' Big Game Special to discuss.
Nissan is revving up its commitment to electric vehicles. the Japanese automaker announcing plans to invest $500 million to transform its assembly plant in Mississippi to build two all-new EV models starting in 2025. It's all part of Nissan's goal to have 23 electrified models for the Nissan and Infiniti brands globally by 2030. Ashwani Gupta, Nissan's COO, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss this announcement and the company's EV goals moving forward.
Cepton made its debut on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ‘CPTN’ on Thursday. Jun Pei, the co-founder and CEO, joined Cheddar News to discuss going public and its lidar-based solutions for improving safety in autonomous features in cars. "It's really just a huge benefit in addition to radar and camera, and becomes an entire sensor suite that will bring cars to a higher level, both for safety and autonomy."
New York City's famous subway system is currently facing scrutiny after several recent attacks on platforms. Now, local leaders in the Big Apple are calling on the MTA. To step in and take action.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Evolution Devices CEO breaks down how the Evowalk wearable device can help those with walking impairments; Cresilon CEO explains how he's created a plant-based gel to easily treat wounds in both humans and animals; A look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Colorado Problem.'
Pier Mantovani, Founder and CEO of Evolution Devices, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how the Evowalk wearable device can help those with walking impairments, and how remote physical therapy is becoming a reality.
Joe Landolina, CEO and Co-Founder of Cresilon, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how he's created a plant-based gel to easily treat wounds in both humans and animals.
The virtual world of the metaverse continues to present a bright future for many artistic creators. A group of six mural artists from the Bay Area have decided to turn their painted and installed murals into a one-of-a-kind collectible. Thanks to NFTS these murals can be enhanced and extend far beyond just their physical walls. Muralist and Creative Director of the Bay Area mural program Rachel Wolfe Goldsmith, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
New York City ride-hailing app drivers are about to get a pay raise. According to the city's Mayor Eric Adams, New York will increase its minimum driver pay rate for both Uber and Lyft drivers. This means both platforms would now be required to pay their drivers a minimum of $1.61 cents per mile and about 0.50 cents per minute. Ultimately, the move would give riders at least a 5.3% race. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
