News & Analysis
Comment
Baolt
thats the point where evil is. Being online with all my datas including the very ...
elctrnx_lyf
Apple can do anything. They will try to come up with something new, just like ...
Apple eyes mobile payments over NFC
Rick Merritt
1/25/2011 2:09 PM EST
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple Inc. is in discussions with retailers and contract manufacturers about supporting mobile payments on future iOS devices such as the iPhone5, according to one analyst. The company is one of several expected to deliver secure transaction services on mobile devices in 2011, according to a report in the January issue of EE Times Confidential.
"We don’t know Apple's plans, but engineers we have met are scaling up to support near-field communications, and have Apple's blessing but not a purchase order yet," said Richard Doherty, principal of consulting form Envisioneering (Seaford, N.Y.). "Apple also has been in dialog with its existing and new retailers" about a new mobile payment service, he added.
Doherty said Apple could decide to ship iOS products such as iPhones or iPads as early as this year using NFC to complete secure retail transactions using an extension of its iTunes service.
"Internally at Envisioneering, we are calling it iCash," said Doherty.
Apple could significantly lower the costs credit card companies charge retailers to verify and complete transaction, a major source of irritation for retailers. Such a service "could be a game changer," he said.
"Tens of billions of dollars that flow through Apple in the next several years" if it successfully launches such a service, he added.
Whether Apple does go ahead with a 2011 launch is unclear. "Anyone who says they have knowledge of Apple plans is a liar because Tim Cook and Steve Jobs won't decide until a few days or weeks before a product roll out," said Doherty.
Apple has a unique opportunity to popularize mobile payments as it has popularized mobile Web access and touch-screen technology. That's because it can control of some of the key elements such as handsets, the operating system and an online payment service needed to deliver mobile payments.
Word emerged last year of Apple patents that reference implementations of NFC. In addition, Apple reportedly hired an NFC specialist last year.
But Apple is far from alone. At the Web 2.0 conference last year,Google's Eric Schmidt showed NFC on the company's next-generation handset, suggesting mobile payments as one of its uses, and the chief executive of Research in Motion said RIM will support NFC.
Others are lining up partnerships and laying the technical plumbing needed to pilot secure mobile payment systems starting in 2011. A story in the current issue of EE Times Confidential described the history behind the emerging services and the elements players will need to ride this new wave of the mobile market.
Read the full story on mobile payments at EE Times Confidential.
|
|
|
|
|
goafrit
1/25/2011 2:38 PM EST
That is expected as the displacement of the credit card draws near. I expect Apple to play key role in this innovation.
Sign in to Reply
Duane Benson
1/25/2011 4:07 PM EST
I don't forget my wallet very often, but I forget my phone even less. When out for a brisk walk, bike ride or run, I'll often leave my wallet home, but almost always have my phone with me. I suspect that I'm far from the only person who operates that way now.
Give me my phone, my still camera, my video camera, my ID, my library card and my money all in one little single point of failure... I mean in one little phone.
Interesting that I haven't adopted my phone as an entertainment device at all, but I'd be more than happy to put all of the outbound stuff in there. Just need to solve those security and single-point of failure issues.
Sign in to Reply
Dave.Dykstra
1/25/2011 4:46 PM EST
I agree wholeheartedly with Duane. The security issue is perhaps the biggest headache, since the single-point of failure issue can be handled with a backup. Of course, a backup doesn't help much when you are out and you get that failure, unless it is a cloud based or other remotely accessible backup, but then the security issue pops up again. I'm sure that there are a number of minds working on just that issue, and it will be very interesting to see how it gets resolved.
Sign in to Reply
chanj
1/25/2011 4:49 PM EST
eWallet is expected to come out this year. I am sure Apple is not the only one since eWallet is right at the application area of NFC. There are a couple areas that need to resolve before getting wide acceptance. Security is the highest priority among all. The business model that will save transaction cost is crucial. What's other stumbling block?
Sign in to Reply
iniewski
1/25/2011 7:18 PM EST
I think this a very compelling technology and I am not sure what are the outstanding issues to resolve before being introduced to population at large. It works just fine in Finland...Kris
Sign in to Reply
Robotics Developer
1/25/2011 11:08 PM EST
I thing the consumers would love to have yet another yet to simplify their transactions. It would make sense for retailers esp. gas stations to allow for the use of iPay. I can remember when the Mobil gas widgets came out and all you had to do was wave it by the pump and your CCard was charged. Neat idea at the time (too bad the gas was way more expensive than the cheapo brand across the street or I would have singed up). I agree with the earlier post: I may leave the house without my wallet but not my phone.
Sign in to Reply
routing_algorithm
1/26/2011 4:40 AM EST
I think the wallet phone will be a single point of failure like a STAR network. If you miss your wallet - no only do you loose your ID and your driving license but you cannot make nay calls
and you cannot pay at the supermarket counter.
If you get caught in a cold country and stuck in
snow without your phone you cannot buy a coffee.
We must have a degree of redundancy in our personal system. I am loathe to rely on a wallet cum phone. NFC is not just restricted
to a wallet phone - NFC is a broader machine2
machine communication.
Sign in to Reply
rick.merritt
1/26/2011 10:34 AM EST
Lose your wallet, lose your phone. What's the difference? Both should be replaceable at a localo retail shop or overnight. And your money and secure identity is still stored online and in your head.
Sign in to Reply
Baolt
1/31/2011 5:57 PM EST
thats the point where evil is. Being online with all my datas including the very private ones!
what if someone hacks it, or what if someone traces, manipulates and imposes my datas, my life and create me a baloon where i should be bounded? Is it what google is doing momently with product called web history, or with googleOS?
Well thank you i am still okey to have cash money/plactic card where i can physically feel that i am paying :)
Sign in to Reply
pjduncan
1/26/2011 9:14 PM EST
There are some that believe that we should do away with the Federal Reserve. Perhaps iCash could at least give the Fed a run for their money (pun intended). Many a fan would trust the full faith and credit of Apple. Apple should rush out and trademark iPence and iOU (100 iPences).
Sign in to Reply
webserver227
1/26/2011 9:32 PM EST
I think security is a major issue for consumers using their phones for purchases. I think the use of eye cornea from the phone camera could solve this problem. Consumers will trust and use such devices to replace their credit cards or else I would not use a phone yet. Or use of finger print as backup security using the phone or something like that.
Sign in to Reply
iniewski
1/26/2011 9:47 PM EST
They should also do iFranc, iEuro, iYen etc...create iWallStreet and move towards towards total global domination ;-)...Kris
Sign in to Reply
elctrnx_lyf
1/28/2011 2:31 PM EST
Apple can do anything. They will try to come up with something new, just like itunes for music. icash definitely makes sense but this all needs more than a product engineering from apple. They have to tie up with all the bigger market retailers in USA to develop a eco-system.
Sign in to Reply