AppleInsider Staff
iPhone owners may soon be able to use their device to purchase goods and services at brick-and-mortar businesses as Apple has reportedly begun interviewing senior-level candidates to build an iTunes-backed mobile payments business.
Apple executive Jennifer Bailey, who previously ran the company's online stores, is said to have been meeting with "senior payments industry executives" about joining the iPhone maker to lead the initiative. Word of the talks was first reported by Re/code.
Apple's "ambitions are very, very serious," one source told the publication, though they likely will not come to a head in the near future. Both positions that Apple is attempting to fill — heads of product and business development — are usually foundational roles that are filled early in a product development process.
Whispers of an Apple-built mobile payment system designed to leverage the hundreds of millions of credit card-backed accounts in iTunes have been circulating for years, but took on a new urgency earlier this year with a report that Apple was "laying groundwork" for such a move. At the time, it was said that Bailey had been tabbed to spearhead the project and that Apple was in talks with payments giant PayPal as a partner.
According to Monday's report, those talks have been ongoing and conversations were held as recently as last month. PayPal was previously thought to be willing to white label large swaths of its infrastructure for Apple, including logistically challenging areas like fraud prevention.
Earlier this year, AppleInsider discovered an Apple patent filing detailing a touchless secure e-wallet system. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also said that mobile payments were "one of the thoughts behind Touch ID," adding weight to the rumors.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
73 Comments
[quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/178730/apple-staffing-up-for-very-very-serious-mobile-payments-push-report#post_2520027"]iPhone owners may soon be able to use their device to purchase goods and services at brick-and-mortar businesses . . .[/quote] soon. (adverb; in or after a short time) [quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/178730/apple-staffing-up-for-very-very-serious-mobile-payments-push-report#post_2520027"] Apple's "ambitions are very, very serious," one source told the publication, though they likely will not come to a head in the near future. [/quote] just not in the near future soon. how many tick thingies in an appleinsider "soon"?
[quote name="Pooch" url="/t/178730/apple-staffing-up-for-very-very-serious-mobile-payments-push-report#post_2520031"]how many tick thingies in an appleinsider "soon"?[/quote] In terms of the cosmos (both the physical realm and the TV show) anything within the scope of humanity endeavors is barely a blip on the radar. :p [quote name="sog35" url="/t/178730/apple-staffing-up-for-very-very-serious-mobile-payments-push-report#post_2520035"]Since Android so so unsecure the retail store will not allow simular payments.[/quote] Possibly, but I'm thinking it will be like iBeacons and CarPlay where Apple's devices are better suited but there will be no reason why other OSes won't be able to use the same basic systems that iDevices will need to connect to. I will also be more shocked if NFC isn't utilized between your iDevice and the retailer's HW. So far there is nothing else that offers a more secure option as NFC's short-range local loop. That doesn't mean BT isn't utilized but the actual exchange needs to be done over something that can't be picked up secretly by any number of people within a 40 foot radius.
Goto Fail, GnuTLS, HeartBleed. Now isn't the best time to push this.
No more standing in line at stores.
I first outlined a plan for that in… ’10, I think it was. Can’t wait to see if it actually happens. I’d love to retire the concept of a cashier from human society.
Oh, don’t fret. Menial jobs will still exist. Instead of registers there will be bins at the front of the store where you can place any items you changed your mind on before leaving (which automatically confirms payment). People will still be needed to put those back on their proper shelves.
At least until we get a humanoid robot that can carry things and recognize location. Oops, already do.
But Apple products aren’t affected. What do they care about anyone else’s systems?
I don't recall security concerns ever being a reason why Google Wallet didn't take off. The most common reason I hear is due to phone carriers blocking it as they wanted a competing solution, Isis, to be the one that people used. I suspect Apple has paid close attention to where Google Wallet has struggled and will learn from Google's mistakes.