*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).
Everyone is stepping into the NFT space, including the Grammys. 'Oneof' is entering a three-year partnership with The Recording Academy to release exclusive NFTs commemorating the 64th, 65th, and 66th Annual Grammy Awards. A portion of the proceeds will also go to The Recording Academy's scholarship fund. Adam Fell, co-founder and board member of Oneof and the president of Quincy Jones Productions, joins Cheddar News to discuss the announcement.
Jean Foster, SVP of marketing and communications for the Consumer Technology Association, joins Cheddar News to preview what attendees can expect from this year's trade show.
'THEMAGIC5' produces swimming goggles that contour the face using advanced robot technologies and 3D printing. Both of the company's founders Bo Haaber and Rasmus Barfred went on ABC's 'Shark Tank' and caught a $1 million deal. The duo join Cheddar News to talk about what the new funding means for the company.
Things are looking up for everyone's favorite crypto. Bitcoin rallied nearly 40% in October, hitting a record high of $66,975. That was the biggest single-month percentage rally since December 2020. On Monday morning, Bitcoin was trading 2.4% higher while Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading at 1.71% and 3.95%. Ben Armstrong, founder of BitBoy Crypto, joins Cheddar News to talk about the latest in the crypto space.
John Paul Mejia, the national spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, joined Cheddar to talk about what the youth activist group wants to see from President Joe Biden as he attends the COP26 climate summit. Mejia admonished the president for having little to deliver on his own climate agenda domestically while at the conference. "We need the president to follow through with his promises because, frankly, it's a matter of life or death not only for communities here in the United States but also those looking to us around the world," he said.
Markets opened higher after the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs on Tuesday. It comes amid a slew of strong corporate earnings reports. Frances Newton Stacy, Director of Strategy, Optimal Capital, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell.
Amazon plans to launch its first prototype satellites for Project Kuiper, an internet-from-space venture, in 2022. It's the first major step in the e-commerce giant's plan to rival SpaceX by building a network of satellites in space, providing internet to rural, underserved communities around the world. Loren Grush, senior science reporter for the Verge, discusses the project and how it could transform internet access moving forward.
While Facebook didn't unveil a name change in its Q3 results, it did reveal a new reporting structure, separating its revenue into two separate businesses: its slate of social networking apps, and Facebook reality labs.
This distinction comes as Facebook continues to ramp up its augmented and virtual reality efforts as it plots its foray into the metaverse. Angelo Zino, Senior Industry Analyst, CFRA Research, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Logitech reported a record quarter, with sales up 82 percent since the same period two years ago. It comes as the company continues to benefit from current market trends including working and learning from anywhere, video everywhere, and the popularity of gaming. Bracken Darrel, CEO, Logitech, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell.
Christie's has announced the sale of Beeple's first ever physical artwork and video NFT called 'Human One.' The hybrid piece is expected to fetch over $15 million at its upcoming auction. Noah Davis, Christie's Head of Digital Art joined Cheddar's Opening Bell.
