A Canadian tech startup, Mobeewave that work on payment technology specifically was acquired by Apple for a whopping $100 million. This technology enables the iPhone to act as a payment terminal. The development was reported by Bloomberg. The acquisition could help Apple extend its payment reach with merchants for Apple Pay.

The payment technology that the company invented is quite simple and requires only the NFC chip to work with. It allows users to tap on their smartphones or credit cards to another device for processing payment. Since all iPhones after iPhone 6 are integrated with the NFC chip, the technology is compatible with all the iPhones currently available in the market. As per the blog post from Bloomberg, Apple is also retaining the entire team working for Mobeewave, which employs around 100 people. They will continue to work from Canada and the office will be considered as another remote office of Apple Inc.

Interestingly, Samsung is also an investor in the company. It has partnered with Mobeewave last year to enable Samsung smartphones to use the company's technology. This resulted in a pilot program with over 10,000 downloads of Samsung's POS app, which smaller businesses used to boost sales. Apple has a history of buying startups and technologies to use as their own. This will be an addition to the list of startups Apple has bought, allowing anyone to use an iPhone to accept payments without any additional piece of hardware.

Compared to five years ago, mobile devices, smartphones and tablets are no longer emerging ideas in the technology community. In fact, they are now considered far less as luxury items and way more as an ingrained part of everyday life.

The number of smartphone users in the United States is expected to reach 223 million by the end of 2017, along with a total in excess of 2 billion worldwide users within the same timeframe. With more people than ever using mobile devices to pay for goods and services, and to deposit and transfer money in a number of ways, we need to talk about security and convenience.

Here's our rundown of three key areas in which mobile payment systems play a huge role, the best solutions out there and how they are currently serving their purpose.

iGaming

"online-poker-ranking-reliable" (CC BY 2.0) by Chingster23

It's no coincidence that the steady rise of the iGaming industry correlates with the growing popularity of mobile devices. From sports bookmakers to virtual poker rooms, many iGaming operators have already started to invest heavily in mobile apps and more secure payment systems that allow players to deposit, play and withdraw money at a moment's notice, wherever they are.

Review websites do a good job of rating and comparing the security and convenience of different canadian online casino payment systems, particularly those based in North America. The range of payment options these days is actually wider than ever, with many casino games offering players the choice between credit or debit card payments, or online payment systems such as Skrill that are typically known for a quicker withdrawal speed.

Small retailers and merchants

"freelancer" (CC BY 2.0) by abductit

Mobile technology has revolutionized the way in which small businesses can take payments for their goods or services. Whether you're a startup T-shirt vendor, a hairdresser or a freelancer, you're ultimately looking for a quick and secure way to bill your customers that is painless for all parties involved.

The two main mobile-friendly options at the moment are Paypal and Square. Paypal is the more well known of the two, and considered to be the industry standard for digital transactions. As well as being secure, it's also easy to create, send and receive invoices. That said, Square has become a key rival to PayPal's success and offers the nifty option to embed payment gateways directly onto a website, as well as slightly better rates for transactions (2.75% compared to Paypal's 3%). Decisions, decisions...

Personal mobile wallets 

"Google Wallet at Peet's" (CC BY 2.0) by kennejima

This is very likely going to play a big part in the future of mobile payment systems. While many of us are still getting used to contactless card payments, we're already well on our way to seeing systems like Android Pay, Google Wallet and Apple Pay becoming more and more established in the very near future.

The idea is that, instead of needing a wallet full of cards and cash (if only), all customers need to do is wave their smartphone at the till machine and it will be able to identify their bank account details through a respective Windows, Google or Apple account. At the minute the technology is in its infancy, relatively speaking, and supported by a limited number of merchants on a limited number of devices. However, we definitely expect that number to expand rapidly in years to come. Watch this space!

All of these areas considered, it's clear that mobile payment systems are at a more sophisticated and secure level than they have ever been before.

Whether you're a keen iGamer looking to withdraw quickly and securely from a mobile casino, a budding startup looking to set up a clear transaction process for your products, or even just a regular Joe who likes to keep an eye on the next phase of technology, the landscape of mobile payment options has never been richer. And, in the grand scheme of things, things are only just getting started.

Many of us enjoy a bet or wager online, in fact over the last decade or so mobile casinos have become the preferred way for many to get a little casino action. Convenient and simple to set up mobile casinos can be enjoyed at any time and from anywhere as long as there is a reliable internet connection. 

Living in a Mobile Age

It's amazing to think that it was only in 2007 that the very first iPhone was introduced to the general public and what a difference the smartphone has made to our lives. 

We have come to rely on our smartphone for so many things that to have it stolen or to lose it adds up to a minor disaster for many. 

We shop and buy for goods and services online, we keep up to date with our social media sites, we monitor our health, book holidays and restaurant tables, in fact we can do just about anything online saving us time for other things. 

Mobile Online Casinos

Many industries saw the potential of going mobile but perhaps the one industry that was way ahead of others was the gambling industry which has always embraced new technology and innovative ideas. This led to the rise of the mobile online casino which has become and remains the preferred choice of many players to make a bet or wager. 

The BOKU Payment Option

Not only are mobile casino games the preferred choice of many online casino lovers, using a mobile phone to pay for those games is fast becoming the preferred method of many. 

What is BOKU?

Simply put, BOKU lets players make a deposit using the money that they would usually use to pay their phone bill - so the cost of their games with either be deducted from their pay-as-you-go balance or put onto the monthly phone bill where it will appear like a phone call.

Using a Boku mobile casino and making a deposit is pretty easy. Once you have logged in to your account and selected the make a deposit or money in option using Boku all you need to do is enter the amount you wish to deposit, the first time you will need to tap in your phone number, then click continue. 

You will be walked through each step and sent SMS to confirm your success and once more using this account takes away any need to give out your banking details which means it is totally safe and secure and protects you 100% against identity theft.