Speculation continues on when and how Apple will venture into mobile payments with its iPhone. In one of the latest prognostications, Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley says Apple could unveil a “killer app” this summer as part of a mobile wallet if it announces its iOS 7 operating system at its Worldwide Developers Conference.
Huberty joins a growing list of financial analysts and others who perpetually predict what Apple might do next. No doubt whenever Apple ventures into the mobile wallet market, its scheme will reverberate throughout the global marketplace. Speculation tends to be broad, such as it could include Near Field Communication technology to support contactless payments, plus perhaps some other technology, such Quick Response (QR) codes. Apple’s Passbook already stores coupons and merchant gift cards, and enables consumers may use them via QR codes.
Perhaps most promising among the speculations is that Apple would include a fingerprint scanning function on the iPhone that would alleviate the need for iPhone users to have to remember so many user names and passwords when using the phone to access websites and when conducting payments or mobile-banking functions. Such functionality surely would address a consumer problem and help to increase the security around payments and the applications on the phones.
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