The only problem I see is numbers. The iPhone still only has 3% of the phone market but everyone has a credit or debit card.
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Yeah but what proportion of the worlds population does that 3% represent. Predominantly western affluent spenders. Cash is still king globally, very few of the worlds population have credit cards and only a handfull more have debit cards.
For transactions of less than £10/$20, cash is still the preferred option, but cash is rubbish, counting the stuff, dealing with change, not having enough on you. Retailers hate managing the stuff as well. Coupled with the fact that kids have to be teenagers before we'll give them a debit card and an adult before they get a credit card. (good thing, i think adults should be given a credit card drivers test before let loose with one).
There's a major opportunity for a pre-paid cash alternative and if it's coupled with your iDevice which is the premier platform for buying digital media on the go, you have a match made in heaven.
The value add that Apple can offer is immense,
1.pay for all the little stuff you normally keep cash for', bus, train, coffee, newspaper,
2.keep a track of the those little payments, that are a hastle to record.
3.electronic pocket money for the kids, transfer straight from your iDevice to theirs.
4.geolocation based offers, discount token pops up on phone, pay the token and/or eCash direct into the retailers system.
Not to mention the other uses apple seems to have thought up for NFC. Contact exchange, the formation of adhoc iGroups, wifi key setup, login token onto workstations, app exchange.... just read through the NFC section of patentlyapple.com and you'll see it goes way beyond money.
