Apple, iPhones and the Mobile Payments Market Shake-up

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- On a day when iPhones everywhere officially became out-of-date and the world got its first long look at the Apple Watch, my mind is on mobile payments. That's because Apple is including technology in its devices that will allow people to use them to make purchases electronically.

Over the last few years, we've seen how Apple drives major changes in user behavior across the globe – from social media consumption to video chatting. Now Apple is betting big on mobile payments, and we can be fairly certain that this will accelerate mass market adoption of mobile payments across all major categories of mobile devices – not just for Apple products.  Mobile payments will be top of mind for players across the mobile ecosystem, and I am excited to talk to industry leaders about how much easier Equinix can make life for the companies enabling mobile payments – though they may not even know it.

Apple's launch of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch today included the announcement that both devices will be equipped with short-range wireless technology that enables their use in digital payments. The near-field communication technology works by transmitting a radio signal between the device and a receiver when they're in close proximity – so-called "tap-to-pay." That would allow users to pay for things with credit cards stored on iTunes.

It's all proceeding as Gartner (and others) have foreseen. Gartner predicted a 35% compound annual growth rate in global mobile transaction volume and value through 2017. Visa says that by 2020, half of its transactions will be made on mobile devices. The convenience promised by the expansion of the mobile payments universe is awesome for the consumer, but it's also an incredibly complex undertaking for companies in the mobile payments industry. Equinix simplifies it with a basic concept – direct connections.

Consider for a moment the security needed for a single mobile purchase. Companies need to make sure the person using your device is actually you, and they do it through multi-factor authentication. This involves confirming several independent things about the buyer at the same time, maybe a password, physical proximity to a stored address and a fingerprint. That's not to mention the different connections between banks, payment processors, mobile operators, etc., needed to execute the purchase.

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About Equinix

Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), connects more than 4,500 companies directly to their customers and partners inside the world's most networked data centers. Today, businesses leverage the Equinix interconnection platform in 32 strategic markets across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. www.equinix.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

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