Jennifer Bailey, the Vice President of Apple's payment service, Apple Pay, said that the company is "watching cryptocurrency," believing it to have "interesting long-term potential." Last month, Apple launched the Apple Card, its first credit card. Apple claims that Apple Pay processes nearly one billion transactions per month and that its acceptance as a form of contactless payment in stores across the U.S. has risen from 3% to over 70%.
However, according to the Apple Card Customer agreement, users are not permitted to buy cryptocurrencies using the company's credit card service. Additionally, Apple does not allow cryptocurrency miners in its App Store platform, although wallets and exchanges such as Coinbase are permitted.
Bailey has hinted that cryptocurrencies and QR code-based systems, similar to systems used in China, may offer alternatives to credit cards for small businesses. It is not expected of Apple to introduce a cryptocurrency product anytime soon though, as Apple's focus remains primarily on what customers are using today.
