Apple Implements Ripple’s Interledger API via Payment Request API for Apply Pay

Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has recently introduced a new Payment system API for its Apple Pay payment system that comes with the Ripple’s Interledger Extension. The integration of this payment registry will be done on Apple’s native web-browser the Safari 11.1 on macOS and iOS 11.3.

Apple which has got a wide range of product line - right from smartphones, to tablets, smartwatches and laptop/PCs - introduced the Apple Pay payment method a few years back in order payments easy over-the-internet and with PoS devices. One of the major difficulties faced by the company is to get merchants on-board as it lacks the support of multiple payment methods that comprise of high levels of complexity.

The Payment Request API helps to overcome this issue by supporting different payment methods across multiple browsers using a standard API by reducing the complexities. The Inteledger payment method is one of the proposed methods on Payment Request API which allows the merchant to request a payment following the Interledger standards.

So what is basically an Interledger Protocol? It an open-source protocol that allows making easy payments across multiple registries. The protocol, in addition, comprises of different standards - like two-factor authentication, address and signatures - that can be applied to different methods of making payment.

The Interledger Community on Github defines it as the “payment method for use, for instance, with the Payment Request API. With it, merchants can request a payment that follows the Interledger standards.”

Another unofficial draft on Github mentions: “The Interledger Protocol defines a number of standards that can be universally applied to all payments, irrespective of the network used to initiate or receive the payment. These include a universal addressing scheme for any destination account, a two-phase request/response orchestration for payment authorization, and a standard message "signature" scheme using simple SHA-256 hash digests.”

One of the major issues with the existing payment systems is the problem of incompatibility among themselves. Interledger helps to overcome this by allowing different payment methods to communicate with each other with different values contained in them. It also helps to reduce the risk associated with mediation errors.

Adrian Hope-Bailie, a member of Ripple’s payment team is also one of the editors of the Interledger payment method. However, Apple has not openly mentioned the use of Interledger or its association with Ripple, but it automatically implies the way Interledger is connected with Payment Request API.