Apple’s long-rumoured iPhone 6 is expected to offer all sorts of new services when it’s unveiled on September 9th and the latest in the lineup is wireless mobile payment.
Passbook made its debut on iOS 6 back in 2012. It gave users a place to keep digital versions of store cards and tickets for everything from Starbucks points to your next holiday abroad. Since then other companies have looked to emulate the service and go one step further by making your phone an actual means of directly paying for goods and services.
So far attempts at creating a successful mobile payment solution have been small and fleeting, but the mass appeal of the next iPhone may be enough to give the concept the boost it needs to bring about a notable change in the way be pay for things on a daily basis.
Word of the iPhone 6’s mobile payment capabilities come as a result of rumours suggesting that Apple will finally integrate NFC (Near-Field Communication) into its next handset and word that talks that have been taking place between the Cupertino-based company and notable financial services companies like Visa, MasterCard and American Express. According to TheInformation.com, talks with Visa have already resulted in a deal being struck.
How would it work?
Apple’s underlying infrastructure is its ace in the hole. As confirmed by Tim Cook during a conference call back in April, Apple has access to over 800 million iTunes accounts, many linked to payment and credit card information. The step we’re all expecting them to take with the launch of the iPhone 6, is to unite said information with the NFC capabilities of the handset and you have yourself a new method of wireless mobile payment.
As we already mentioned, the notion of an e-wallet isn’t new and in the UK services like EE’s Cash on Tap let you load an app up with credit from one of your accounts, which can then be used instead of cash or a card when you tap your phone on a reader. They’ve even pushed the concept to cover public transport in central London too, but that’s one carrier, in one country, Apple could roll out their own ideas on a global scale.
If you’ve somehow missed it, the iPhone 6 and some other Apple goodies are anticipated to be rolling out at a launch event, taking place on September 9th. Stay tuned to Recombu.com for everything you need to know about Apple’s next iPhone and let us know your thought on wireless mobile payments in the comments down below.
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