Apple’s introduction of Touch ID to the iPhone 5s was an exciting move. Not only did this help increase security, but also opened up many possibilities. Unfortunately those possibilities were limited as it appeared that Apple had no plans, at that time, to open it up to developers. This allowed Samsung to beat Apple to the punch by allowing for PayPal support with the Galaxy S5. However when Apple announced iOS 8 at WWDC earlier this week, they also announced the Touch ID API that would allow developers to start using the feature on iPhones. Now PayPal is a possible candidate to use the feature and it seems that the company is considering it, according to a source inside PayPal who told the folks at Business Insider.
PayPal is moving quickly to integrate the iPhone 5S fingerprint reader into its mobile payment apps. Yesterday, a team of PayPal developers attended a session on Touch ID, Apple’s fingerprint-scanning system, at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, a PayPal source told us. Touch ID would allow PayPal and other apps to authenticate users with a fingerprint scan rather than a typed password. Earlier in the week, at the start of WWDC, Apple announced it would open Touch ID integration to third-party app developers through an API (software allowing outside apps to hook into a phone feature). “It seems to be a fairly easy API to use, but we’re still kicking the tires,” the PayPal source tells us. Anuj Nayar, PayPal’s senior director of global initiatives, confirmed in an email that company developers had attended the session.
