Apple Pay to be adopted by the federal government

On Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook, spoke at the White House Summit on Cybersecurity, in Palo Alto, CA.

Cook announced that Apple Pay is likely to be implemented by government agencies, to process transactions, such as national park admissions, and federal payment cards.

During Friday’s announcement, the White House has made known its plans to enable Apple Inc.’s mobile-payment system for federal-payment cards, veterans and Social Security benefits currently handled by debit cards.

The Direct Express payment network as well as GSA SmartPay, currently handling over 87.4 million transaction, $26.4 billion each year, will be involved in the overhaul.

The tokenized nature of Apple’s mobile payment system, has prompted Washington, and Silicon Valley leaders, to consider implementing a method of processing transactions that has proven to be considerably safer than any past and current methods.

“We don’t know your credit card number, or what you bought, or how much you paid.” Tim Cook stated during the press conference, “And we don’t want to.”, while putting the emphasis on the right to privacy, which has been a hot button issue for some time.

Since its roll-out, Apple Pay has found widespread adoption at major retailers, and official endorsements by banking institutions like Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

"If those of us in positions of responsibility fail to do everything in our power to protect the right of privacy, we risk something far more valuable than money," he said. "We risk our way of life." Tim Cook stated at press time, during a portion of the conference invoking partnerships between the public and private sector, to strengthen the stance against cyber attacks.

The government’s adoption of Apple’s mobile payment system is praiseworthy, as a display of will, to modernize antiquated infrastructures.