Apple is partnering with all major credit card companies for an iPhone payment system, according to multiple reports released over the weekend. Bloomberg reports that Apple is working with Visa, MasterCard, and American Express—the three largest credit card organizations in the United States. The partnerships are presumed to be for a near-field-communication (NFC) feature, which uses a chip inside the phone to securely communicate with special devices to charge users’ accounts. The technology is expected to be presented during the September 9 iPhone 6 unveiling.
By using NFC technology in the iPhone 6, CNBC reports, “analysts say Apple could galvanize a smartphone payments market that has struggled to take off, even though tap-to-pay technology has been built into mobile devices for eight years.”
Google introduced a similar feature in Android devices back in 2011 called Google Wallet, though it has not caught on with consumers, according to CNBC. However, NFC payment technology remains popular in other parts of the world—including Japan—and holds huge potential in the United States should Apple build a buzz for the technology.
What is NFC
Near-field communication uses a simple microchip to communicate with similar chips to transmit data at very close ranges, typically within inches. Re/Code reports that the iPhone 6 will allow customers to “present their phones at the checkout counter of partnering retailers to transmit payment information to complete a purchase.” It is unknown which organizations will accept iPhone payments so far.
Apple’s large customer base—and therefore the large number of credit cards the company already has on file—may be enough of an advantage for Apple to make NFC mainstream, according to Business Insider.
Do you use some sort of NFC payment technology already? Or are you waiting for it to hit the iPhone?
Image courtesy of Flickr
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