iPhone Gunning for Your Credit Card

Apple devices to beam consumer information
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 25, 2011 10:59 AM CST
iPhone Gunning for Your Credit Card
iPhones and iPads will have the capability to beam information.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

So the next generation of iPads and iPhones will help you empty your wallet in a whole new way: As a credit card. Using “near-field communication” technology, the devices will be able to beam data—credit-card numbers and bank details, for example—up to 4 inches away. The move sounds simple, but could be revolutionary, experts tell Bloomberg.

Apple could lay claim to fees on the $6.2 trillion that consumers charge every year, while simultaneously avoiding paying processing fees to the likes of Visa and Mastercard. It could then use NFC to deliver highly targeted advertising to the devices—and charges advertisers a pretty penny to do it. NFC already exists, and companies like Nokia have long pushed it to little avail. But “Apple could be the game-changer,” said an analyst. The new iPads and iPhones are expected later this year.
(More iPhone stories.)

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