Apple iPhone 6 to revolutionise mobile payments

Apple’s latest smartphone – iPhone 6 – looks set to revolutionise mobile payments by transforming the device into a portable wallet.

Apple has been playing up to the hype surrounding the supposedly imminent launch of its new sixth generation iPhone by saying very little on the matter. The only thing the tech giant has contributed by way of comment is the following succinct message: “9.9. 2014 – Wish we could say more.”

An event has been booked on this day. It is to take place at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino, California, the very establishment where Steve Jobs introduced the Mac computer 30 years ago. It is reasonable to deduce this is where the latest iPhone will be officially unveiled to the world.

There is a lot riding on this device and needless to say, given the success of all the previous models and the way in which they have constantly set the bar in the field of smartphones and portable devices higher and higher, Apple cannot fail in delivering another landmark product.

One of the new features rumoured to be coming to the iPhone is the latest in mobile payment technology, which will, in effect, transform the device into a portable wallet.

In short, owners will be able to pay for goods and services with a simple swipe of their phone. The need to carry cash and indeed credit/debit cards could become a thing of the past.

According to multiple sources, you will be able to access a range of accounts – which is already possible with banking apps – but additionally, thanks to the incorporation of a near-field communication (NFC) chip, the device will become the means by which a person pays for something.

Bloomberg has gone so far as to say that Apple has already entered into a sweeping partnership with banks, retailers and major payment networks to support the system. This includes the likes of American Express, Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc.

The independent tech news, reviews and analysis site Re/code also reported as much, explaining that with NFC, “customers will present their phones at the checkout counter of partnering retailers to transmit payment information to complete a purchase”.

It continued: “For Apple, the introduction of its own iPhone payments product will end years of speculation about when it will take advantage of its massive file of hundreds of millions of credit cards from iTunes and App Store customers to create its own mobile wallet.”

< Top image: iMore >