Apple Takes out New European Trademark “Apple Pay Cash”

September 6, 2024         By: Steven Anderson

When Apple files a patent, or a trademark or the like, it’s something worth watching. Granted, a lot of Apple’s patents never see the light of day, but each one they file for is a potential new product in the making. Recently, Apple filed for a pair of new trademarks in Europe, including “Apple Clips”, and the one that means the most to us, “Apple Pay Cash.”

Apple Pay, after all, started life as a trademark at one point, and that almost two years before it emerged as an actual product people could use, according to reports. With the upcoming release of Apple iOS 11, meanwhile, there’s set to be a new payment app that comes along with it. That much was noted when Apple held its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and with Apple planning to roll out iOS 11 in about a week, we might well get a look at what Apple Pay Cash is sooner than anyone expected.

The patent for Apple Pay Cash was filed under International Class 9 and 36 provisions, and describes “computer software used to process mobile payments.” It also notes that it’s used in “contactless transactions” with several different classes of users, mainly retailers and vendors, so this doesn’t seem to be a peer-to-peer sort of setup. There’s also mention of “authentication and redemption of coupons, rebates, discounts, incentives and special offers” as well as “loyalty cards used to access and use loyalty points.”

This almost sounds like a more fully-featured Apple Pay, and it could ultimately be an update of same. Naturally, this is speculative at this point—we’re working with a patent description here—and the full release of Apple Pay Cash will tell the whole story when and if it comes to light. If Apple’s considering augmenting Apple Pay, it could give the company a hand getting more of its own user base to turn to the app. Apple Pay use has been fairly enthusiastic, but has only been a comparatively small part of the total Apple user base.

New features certainly couldn’t hurt matters much, and the more people Apple Pay and other such systems can appeal to, the better the chances for overall adoption.