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iPhone 5 is not a mobile wallet yet
Other | Friday 14th September 2012 | Osh
iPhone 5 does not include NFC technology, which is used to turn cellphones into mobile wallets.
It is all about iPhone 5 these days. It was expected that iPhone 5 will come up with some mind boggling features that will overpower iPhone 4s or any other phone. However, to huge disappointment, it does not have any major updates. It is more or less similar to iPhone 4s in terms of the features.
Moreover, iPhone 5 did not embed NFC chips, which is Near Field Communication technology. It helps to use cellphones as a mode to make payments. So instead of swiping a credit card, shoppers can simply wave their phones at a checkout terminal to pay for their goods.
As explained by Apple, they are reluctant to add an extra cost for embedding NFC in any of their phones until it is more widely adopted. Meanwhile, all other merchants in US think alike that they won't install NFC until more consumers have the technology on their phones.
However, in this situation, Apple is developing Passbook, a mobile app that pulls together loyalty cards, tickets and coupons on the new iPhone, instead of embracing NFC technology. Many analysts consider this an early version of a digital wallet, except Passbook does not let users link their credit and debit cards yet.
If not one, then Apple would come up with another similar feature and would surely not fall behind for not making new technology available to its consumers.
Shavy Malhotra
