Payroll Jumps Onto Apple Pay, Again

Will Apple Pay take off with corporate users? When it comes to spend categories like T&E and payroll, it just might.

The latest business to bank on enterprise use of the mobile wallet is Payment Data Systems, whose prepaid card, Akimbo, issued to businesses that want to use the card to pay their employees, now supports Apple Pay.

Reports on Friday (Feb. 19) said the Akimbo Prepaid MasterCard is now compatible with the mobile wallet, including the payroll cards used by corporate clients. These cards can be issued under the Akimbo Now program, a payment tool and API that lets businesses send payments, rewards and incentives to their employees via prepaid card.

“Being first-to-market with the latest payment innovations is a top priority for our prepaid card solutions, and we’re proud to launch Apple Pay support for our flagship consumer card brand, Akimbo,” said Louis Hoch, president and CEO of Payment Data Systems’ subsidiary, FiCentive.

“Our goal is to help businesses use the Akimbo platform to deliver a wide variety of payments, from rewards and incentives to regular payroll,” he continued.

The Akimbo card is just the latest to provide employers with a way to pay their employees using Apple Pay. Last month, payroll card issuer ADP revealed that its own ALINE Card would also be compatible with the mobile wallet, a move the company said was a way to combine the convenience of the payroll card and the security of Apple’s mobile payments solution.

And, just days earlier, U.S. Bank announced that more of its corporate cards would also be compatible with Apple Pay.

Apple Pay has also sought to capture more of the enterprise crowd through integrating with corporate travel and expense management tools. Bank of America, for instance, told reporters last year that its business customers, and its business travel manager clients in particular, were interested in exploring how to adapt the mobile wallet for their day-to-day operations.