iWallet

Poll: would you use iPhone 6 as your iWallet?

A flurry of reports in recent days from the likes of Re/code, Wired, Financial Times, Bloomberg and The Information have pointed to Apple eyeing a pay-by-touch iPhone technology by partnering with some of the world’s biggest payment processors and credit card companies like AmEx, MasterCard and Visa.

The mobile payment feature is thought to involve technologies such as NFC and Touch ID and tap into a pool of more than the 800 million iTunes accounts with credit cards on file.

The question is, do you see yourself using the iPhone 6 as your wallet? Or, maybe you’re the type of person who prefers sticking to plastic and good ol’ cash?

Apple reportedly ‘very, very serious’ about mobile payments

Apple is ramping up internally to launch a mobile payments service, according to Recode. The publication reports Apple has been interviewing payment industry executives to fill two new senior positions at the company focused on mobile payments, as it plans to get into the industry.

The search team is being lead by Apple executive Jennifer Bailey, who previously ran the company’s online stores including iTunes. The two new positions are heads of product and business development, two positions that are at the core of any new product at Apple.

Square reportedly in talks to sell after growing losses, held ‘informal talks’ with Apple

Mobile payments startup Square is looking to sell its business, following growing losses and shrinking cash reserves, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Square, founded by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey in 2009, makes software, hardware products, and services, including Square Register and Square Wallet, for customers to pay merchants in an easier way.

Square has discussed an acquisition with Google in 2014, according to the report, with prior talks dating back to 2012. Additionally, Apple is said to have held informal talks with Square about a deal, interesting given the mobile payment rumors that have been circulating the Cupertino-based company. 

Apple job post tips off next-gen payment platform

A punditry consensus has been forming for some time that Apple of California is planning on entering the mobile payment space with a service of its own. Conventional wisdom has it that such a product would tap into more than half a billion iTunes accounts with credit cards on file.

In between Apple’s purchase of smart sensor maker AuthenTec and the company’s iWallet shopping app patent, Apple has done little to indicate that a branded mobile payment solution is in the works, until today.

An Apple job listing now indicates in black and white that Apple’s management is in the process of hiring experts who will “help build a next-generation payment platform” to help its retail “enter new markets”…

Samsung copies Apple’s Passbook

Samsung on Wednesday unveiled its own mobile payment solution called Samsung Wallet that looks quite a lot like Apple’s Passbook app which is part of iOS 6. Just like Apple’s Passbook, Samsung’s Wallet too lets you manage your coupons, boarding passes, various tickets and loyalty cards all in a single app and redeem these at a point of sale by showing the digital barcode to a clerk.

Again, just like Passbook, Samsung’s solution supports real-time notifications when, for example, event details change or your flight gets rescheduled. Even the Samsung app’s icon resembles the look and feel of the Passbook icon…

Apple granted iWallet shopping app patent

Apple has been granted an interesting new patent today that covers a personal shopping application. The app provides retail and pricing information based on user location and scanned barcodes.

The patent was published this morning by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. And if it’s any indication of what Apple’s working on, it could mean we’re in for some nice surprises  on the iWallet front…

Apple’s AuthenTec purchase indicates an e-wallet fingerprint service

Apple’s $356 million acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec (already under investigation, by the way) has been already deemed by one analyst as a move meant to bolster security of iOS devices in enterprise. Now another analysts chimes in with speculation that the transaction, still pending approval, will probably help Apple create a mobile payment system around future iOS devices built around an e-wallet fingerprint service…