Apple Pay is a neat service. It’s not original or innovative by any means. There have been products like it before (Google Wallet, Skip Wallet). The benefit of Apple Pay is that it is by default in the hands of every 6 and 6+ user, giving it the larger market.
I saw a woman in line at the Whole Foods the other day and when time came to pay the woman proceeded to scour through her large purse. After a few seconds she finally found her phone and began the purchasing process. She brought the phone to the payment system, then she had to click NO to the prompt for cash back, and YES for the prompt that asked her if the amount was correct. Apple Pay only saved her from a few seconds of typing in a PIN if she decided to go with debit. I didn’t see it as time saving or easier.

I don’t know what the vision for Apple Pay is. I imagine it’s either to change the way we purchase goods, or to start trying to replace the traditional wallet. If the latter, there are still a ton of obstacles for them to overcome. First, a wallet holds so many things; drivers licenses, insurance cards, gift cards, business cards, company cards, cash, rewards cards, and so many other things. If you look at my dad’s 3" thick, spine twisting, pocket book you’ll see the full hoarder like storage it does for some.

I think this is where Apple Pay can change the way we live our lives. Imagine it’s a Passbook for everything. You’d never have to worry about printing a car insurance card again. Leaving your drivers license at home, or losing your wallet. It would all be in one device so of course you’d need to protect it with your life.

I’ve had limited experience with Apple Pay, but I’ve come to think that it’s going to become a competition between Coin and Apple Pay to figure out what the future of the wallet will be. Coin “currently” only holds Credit, Debit and Gift Cards (or so it’s landing page says; it’s not out yet). But I think that if Coin can figure out a way to absorb drivers licenses, insurance cards and all those other rectangular burdens we carry, it can be the great wallet disrupter that we’ve been waiting for.