Integrating Apple Pay presents unique challenges and opportunities. Apple Pay integration challenges are particularly significant for companies like NORBr, which serves as a multi-faceted payment infrastructure provider. While Apple Pay integration is complex, NORBr’s broader role encompasses far more than just payment orchestration, catering to Payment Facilitators (PayFacs), Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), and large retailers. 

This article delves into the intricacies of Apple Pay integration while highlighting the extensive capabilities of NORBr’s infrastructure.

Understanding Apple Pay integration challenges

Certification and security requirements

Integrating Apple Pay involves managing various certificates and ensuring secure transmission of payment tokens. Typically, this integration is facilitated by an SDK provided by a payment partner, which itself calls the PassKit framework and adds an additional layer. Each partner might have a unique way of integrating Apple Pay, making the process specific and partner-dependent.

Certificate Management

One of the primary challenges is managing the necessary certificates. Apple Pay requires two main types of certificates:

1. Merchant Certificate: The Merchant Certificate for Apple Pay is not just about authorizing a website or app to accept payments. It involves validating the merchant’s domain to ensure it can securely process Apple Pay transactions. This validation step is critical for secure communication with Apple Pay servers and for confirming the legitimacy of the merchant’s domain​.
2. Payment Processing Certificate: Essential for creating tokens that can be decrypted by the payment processor. This involves generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR).

These requirements are more stringent compared to other digital wallets like Google Pay, which typically only requires a gateway ID without the need for certificate exchanges​ (Apple Developer)​.

Technical integration

The technical aspects of integrating Apple Pay involve using the PassKit framework to manage the payment process. Typically, this integration is facilitated by an SDK provided by a payment partner, which itself calls the PassKit framework and adds an additional layer.

Client-Side and Server-Side Actions

Client-Side:

• Device Compatibility Check: JavaScript APIs determine if the device supports Apple Pay, checking for compatible cards added to Apple Pay.
• Payment Sheet Presentation: Managed by the ApplePaySession class in Safari, which handles user interactions and captures payment details securely.
• Payment Tokenization: Secure handling and transmission of payment tokens from the client to the server​.

Server-Side:

• Merchant Validation: Establishes secure communication with Apple Pay servers to validate the merchant.
• Payment Processing: Decrypts and processes the payment token, interacting with the payment processor to complete the transaction securely.
• Certificate Management: Continuously managing and renewing certificates to maintain compliance and security.

By managing both the client and server-side components effectively, the integration ensures a seamless and secure payment experience for users.

Challenges for payment orchestrators

Payment orchestrators face unique challenges when integrating Apple Pay. As intermediaries between merchants and multiple payment processors, orchestrators must ensure that each integration adheres to Apple Pay’s stringent requirements. This often involves:

• Multiple Integration Points: Each payment processor might have different requirements and methods for integrating Apple Pay, making the process complex and resource-intensive.
• Consistency and Reliability: Ensuring a consistent and reliable payment experience across different payment processors and merchants can be challenging, especially when dealing with high transaction volumes.
• Compliance and Security: Maintaining compliance with Apple’s security standards and managing sensitive payment data securely is crucial. This involves regular updates and audits to ensure all integrations remain secure and compliant.

NORBr’s approach to Apple Pay integration

NORBr simplifies the complex process of integrating Apple Pay for its merchants. As a certified “Apple Pay platform”, NORBr manages the stringent security and compliance requirements centrally, providing a streamlined process for its merchants.

Key Features of NORBr:

• Universal Tokenization: Facilitates the management of multiple PSPs with universal tokenization.
• Automatic Fallback Management: Ensures seamless transaction processing, crucial for large retailers with high transaction volumes.
• Centralized Certification Management: NORBr handles the merchant and payment processing certificates, reducing the operational burden on individual merchants.
• Platform-Agnostic Integration: The ability to integrate Apple Pay across various payment processors without being tied to a specific setup maintains NORBr’s agnostic approach, crucial for supporting diverse merchant needs.
• Simplified Onboarding: Merchants leveraging NORBr’s infrastructure benefit from a simplified onboarding process for Apple Pay, accelerating their time-to-market and ensuring compliance with Apple’s security standards.

Conclusion

Integrating Apple Pay is a complex process requiring stringent security measures and technical integration. As a comprehensive payment infrastructure provider, NORBr simplifies this integration through its Apple Pay platform certification. It also offers extensive capabilities that go beyond mere payment orchestration. By addressing the broader needs of PayFacs, ISVs, ISOs, and large retailers, NORBr ensures a seamless, secure, and efficient payment experience.

About NORBr

While these challenges are significant, NORBr’s capabilities extend beyond simple orchestration. Here’s how NORBr stands out:

1. Holistic payment infrastructure:

   • NORBr Infra: Provides a white-label infrastructure that integrates advanced payment orchestration and administrative tools, supporting over 500 payment methods. This infrastructure caters to the comprehensive needs of PayFacs, ISVs, ISOs, and large retailers, ensuring a seamless transaction experience.

2. Integrated solutions for merchants:

   • NORBr Stack: Facilitates the management of multiple PSPs (Payment Service Providers). It includes features like universal tokenization and automatic fallback management, crucial for large retailers dealing with high transaction volumes.

3. Data insights and reconciliation:

   • NORBr Insights: Offers a unified view of payment data through customizable dashboards and export tools. The Matcher tool is particularly beneficial for large retailers, enabling automatic reconciliation of payments with receipts.