As the iPhone 6’s announcement and release are drawing closer by the day, rumors have very much centered around screen sizes and the hardware that will encase Apple’s bespoke internals. Today though, the aptly named ‘The Information’ has published a report that brings the news back to a story that simply will not die.
Rumors of Apple’s impending entry into the mobile payments world crop up every time a new iPhone is about to be released, usually alongside all kinds of commentary on whether it will include an NFC chip or not. It seems that the rumor-mill has finally put the NFC story to bed though, because this latest round of talk centers around Apple using a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi as its way of handling payment, which will obviously mean retailers would need to get whole new hardware to make their side of the transaction happen.
That’s where the likes of VISA come in, and The Information is backing up claims made elsewhere of late that has Apple and leading financial partners working together on a system that would allow shoppers to pay for goods and services using their iPhones.
To that end, according to the report, Apple has told those partners that it would keep financial information in a secure enclave, meaning that data would effectively be cut-off from the rest of the system. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Apple said the exact same thing about Touch ID and the storage of fingerprint information. It’s almost a given that the Touch ID element would be used as part of any payment system, so it’s also possible both features would share the same hardware but we’re way out in the weeds there.
If Apple is still working on the partnership deals for mobile payments, we’d be surprised to see a payment feature debut in the iPhone 6 if only due to the timescales included in getting these things rolled out to retailers. It does look like such a feature is coming though, so expect to be paying for things using your iOS device sooner or later.
(Source: TheInformation)
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