A recent job post has sparked curiosity over Apple's position in relation to digital currencies. The new role 'Business Development Manager - Alternative Payments' looks beyond the current payments purview offered by Apple and looks to explore “what is an alternative way of doing this”.
The role will involve leading alternative payment partnerships and specifically calls for:
5+ years experience working in or with alternative payment providers, such as digital wallets, BNPL, Fast Payments, cryptocurrency and etc.
Deep knowledge of the alternative payments ecosystem, understanding the complexities of funds flow, roles/responsibilities for settlement, relevant regulations and industry standards and the wide spectrum of FinTech products.
While Apple has not made public statements about the potential expansion into digital currencies, speculation is rife are excited about what this could mean for the industry. Forbes reports that Apple's backing of digital currencies could "give the market its strongest endorsement yet".
If Apple does embrace digital currencies Coindesk suggests that this could expand the scope of payments accepted in Apple's app store which have previously forced "apps to use Apple’s commerce rails and play by Apple’s rules."
The idea of partnership arrangements to facilitate digital currency payments also suggests that Apple may not be looking to re-invent the wheel and could roll out a solution with existing infrastructure quickly. Hopefully this is the first of many hires by Apple in this space.