Bloomberg Businessweek, CNET, Wired and Recode are just a few of the websites reporting that the new iPhone 6, due to be announced next week, will have ‘near field communication’ (NFC). This technology will allow users to store their American Express, Visa and MasterCard on the iPhone 6, bypassing the need to ever take a credit card out of a wallet.
Will Apple, American Express, Visa and MasterCard make this mess go away?
From Bloomberg:
Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to turn its next iPhone into a mobile wallet through a partnership with major payment networks, banks and retailers, according a person familiar with the situation.
The agreement includes Visa Inc. (V), MasterCard Inc. (MA) and American Express Co. (AXP) and will be unveiled on Sept. 9 along with the next iPhone, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
The new iPhone will make mobile payment easier by including a near-field communication chip for the first time, the person said. That advancement along with Touch ID, a fingerprint recognition reader that debuted on the most recent iPhone, will allow consumers to securely pay for items in a store with the touch of a finger.
And, as Bloomberg reported, nobody is commenting:
Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment, as did Jim Issokson, a spokesman for MasterCard, and Mike O’Neill, a spokesman for American Express. Representatives from Visa didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The talks between Apple and Visa about the technology were reported by TheInformation.com in July, citing unidentified people who had been briefed on the matter.
Bottom Line
This is good news, if it’s true. Two of my favorite features of the iPhone are ‘tap and pay’ thru the Starbucks app, and merchants being able to scan loyalty cards thru Passbook. I know that the technology being described will be vastly different, and more secured, it would be nice to always have an assortment of credit cards available using my future iPhone 6.
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As always, Apple announces its release to its largely tech-ignorant base, to much applause, of a technology that has been in use for 3-4 years. Google has had NFC on its “Nexus” line since 2010. Yawn.