Apple’s Mobile Payments Play Takes Shape

August 7, 2024 by
Apple’s Mobile Payments Play Takes Shape

Image credit: Akif Sahin

Apple has been engaged in extensive talks with major players in the forefront of the mobile payments sector, and has made it clear they intend to make a big push for a mobile payments partnership by fall.

Timing is critical as it is widely speculated that the much vaunted Apple smartwatch which fans have been patiently waiting for, will be announced simultaneously with the launch of the iPhone 6.

Apple has recently acquired a patent for a so-called “iTime,” described as a full-featured smartwatch with support for hand gesture control.

Apple’s mobile payments play, which is still under wraps, will allow users to turn their iPhone into a credit card and pay for goods and services either online or even in the actual retail store.

Apple has a reputation among consumers for producing the highest quality hardware in the design of their devices. Apple’s payment solution is said to take advantage of a built in secured element within the iPhone, which is thought to relate to the secured enclave for data built into the new A7 mobile processor.

Leaks from the talks point to the new payments platform being a function of Apple’s Touch ID which is its new biometrics technology, first launched with the iPhone 5s, which uses a fingerprint reader in your handset to allow iOS to unlock certain functionality when you touch the Home button.

If you’re concerned about your biometric privacy or about Apple getting its corporate hands on your fingerprints, you’ll be happy to know that your bio data is safely secured in your device. The Touch ID sensor is essentially wired directly into a special area of your iPhone’s A7 CPU, called the ‘secure enclave,’ that encrypts data using a key that is embedded into the chip. The data never leaves the enclave, and could not be read even if someone were to physically gain access to your handset and take it apart.

Some have suggested that Apple might include near-field communications (NFC) chips in the iPhone 6, and hardware prototypes continue to leak out of the factories where parts are being made.

Ultimately, time will tell what the final product will look like and how it will work. For certain it’s sure to bring a wave of change amongst the hundreds of millions of I-users who are devoted heart and soul to the brand.

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