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Apple Bringing NFC Payment Technology to Retail Stores?

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Apr 12, 2001
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Just one day after a research analyst claimed that Apple will not be including near field communication (NFC) capabilities in the next-generation iPhone, BGR reports that Apple has been making changes to its retail store payment setup and iPod touch-based EasyPay system that could allow the company to begin accepting NFC payments. The development would of course argue in favor of Apple deploying NFC capabilities in the iPhone sooner rather than later.
First off, Apple's POS devices - its iPod touch-based wireless payment terminals - recently all went offline for "maintenance" for an entire day, leaving customers unable to purchase some items or return merchandise. Additionally, we have been told that there were recently multiple "overnights" in Apple retail locations, which required store employees to "assist in installing TBD devices" throughout the stores "as the retail segment of Apple grows." Lastly, sources tell us that there have been new tables installed in stores that have different wiring compared to Apple's standard tables.
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The report notes that the changes may have something to do with behind-the-scenes retail store activity potentially related to a 10th anniversary event or product launch but that at least one source has indicated that the new point-of-sale systems will support NFC technology.

Article Link: Apple Bringing NFC Payment Technology to Retail Stores?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/17/apple-bringing-nfc-payment-technology-to-retail-stores/
:cool:

I think it makes sense cause Apple believes that they can't just put a NFC iPhone infront of the people and ask them to use.

If they require a training period OR they require a proper setup, they need to start now.

But then again, Apple will disclose a feature from the next iPhone which I don't think they would want to. But anyway, NFC is going to be common enough in a few years, so disclosing something on the hardware level which will be common in all smartphones isn't a big deal at all.

Uhh. too many if's here. :|

EDIT: Also, I am first. :cool:.
 
This rumor is all BS. The system did not go offline the other day, the app they all run got updated so we could control the queues from the POS app. The new tables have been put in place for months so that we can do cash transactions from the floor and not from a single location at the back. Nothing in this article is real.
 
Even if it was true, that would mean they'd be updating the iPod Touch, NOT the iPhone.
 
"First off, Apple's POS devices"

Am I the only one to find that very amusing? I am so immature my wife keeps telling me.
 
Ingot said:
"First off, Apple's POS devices"

Am I the only one to find that very amusing? I am so immature my wife keeps telling me.
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I found it amusing they had to clarify "POS" immediately following the term - unnecessary if you took the effort to write "Point-of-Sale" :rolleyes:
 
perhaps what this really is about is apple stores being able to receive payments from current NFC cards, ...and eventually it will be included in an iphone.
 
allpar said:
Even if it was true, that would mean they'd be updating the iPod Touch, NOT the iPhone.
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It doesn't even mean that. Apple uses a special case for their iPod touches in-store that includes stuff like a magnetic strip reader for credit card payments. They could easily just add an NFC reader to that.

How in the world does Apple gearing up to accept NFC payments mean the iPhone is clearly getting it "sooner than later"? There are millions of credit cards out there now that support NFC.
 
allpar said:
Even if it was true, that would mean they'd be updating the iPod Touch, NOT the iPhone.
Click to expand...

I think the main point though is that if they update their iPod touches to accept NFC/RFID payments now, then that is preparing the store to be ready to accept a mass influx of NFC payments in the near future, which would likely only happen if the iPhone had NFC. Doing it well in advance will allow them to work out any kinks, as well as defer acknowledging NFC in the new iPhone by stating that they are simply upgrading to allow RFID credit cards.

I'm not saying NFC will be included in the next iPhone, just saying that this may be a sign if things to come.
 
DisMyMac said:
Google "cashless society" + plus anything about Revelations or the apocalypse. The iPhone is the mark, held in our palms and placed to our temples. The Apple-1 cost just the same quantity as King Solomon's tribute.

I've described other signs here: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12579886/

A quick primer: http://watch.pair.com/new-money.html
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I find it interesting that you used a Hollywood movie about evolution to "prove" something from Revelation. (in the quoted post) Perhaps that signifies the validity of your prophetic interpretation.
 
JAT said:
I find it interesting that you used a Hollywood movie about evolution to "prove" something from Revelation. (in the quoted post) Perhaps that signifies the validity of your prophetic interpretation.
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I don't understand, but if you could prove any of this wrong then I would sleep better. I don't think prophecy is something religious. It's a plot that's being followed, or there was some scientific way to transmit the future when that part of the bible was written.

I'm crazy in my own way, but don't lump me in with bible-thumpers or fundamentalist nuts.
 
lets hope that apple does not make it's on proprietary system that does not play nice with everyone else's.
 
Non-NFC payments

I think it's possible that Apple might be developing a payment system that doesn't depend on NFC that is tied to iTunes accounts.

Don't forget that NFC is only one half of the equation and is really only a method for transmitting account details to a POS device. Consider the possibility of an iOS app that displays a barcode or similar image that can be shown to a POS scanner or possibly read by an iOS camera. We've already seen this for airline boarding passes and at Starbucks. I believe everything is in place for this to work right now and the addition of NFC support in later devices would just make the process easier.

It's possible a system like this could support sending money from one iOS device to another too which could make things very interesting...
 
Well, for one, you do. You were interested enough to click, read and comment.

kimble3 said:
I think it's possible that Apple might be developing a payment system that doesn't depend on NFC that is tied to iTunes accounts.
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This is a more reasonable assumption.

My American Express Blue card has an RFID chip in it and other credit cards have that technology. An NFC contactless payment system in a retail store would address those common forms of payment before some esoteric smartphone payment system.

Note that in Japan, the rise of the "osaifu keitai" (literally "wallet phone") system was tied to its early adoption of a very popular system: the JR East railway. Millions of Japanese use that transit system every day; adoption of the "osaifu keitai" happened because it was convenient in a daily situation, not an infrequent occurrence like visiting an Apple Retail Store.

Apple's NFC retail point-of-sales terminals would need to support common methods of payment and any future NFC-equipped handsets would have far more success if they could work with the major transit systems around the globe.
 
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