Apparently, Apple iOS engineers are "heavy into NFC" and devs are "confident enough to bet the app development on."
What remains unclear is who Apple will partner with for its payment systems, and the report has some speculation based on recent reports and interviews.
First comes from Ed McLaughlin, the boss of emerging payments at MasterCard: "The timeline is always as rapid as it makes sense for consumers. (In regards to mass NFC adoption) That's a combination of having a critical mass of the merchants, which is what you're seeing right now, and getting devices into the hands of consumers. I don't know of a handset manufacturer that isn't in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready."
McLaughlin would not specifically say Apple, however except to say, "well, anytime someone with a major base moves forward, it advances what you're doing. So of course [Apple is necessary in NFC reaching critical mass]."
While the exec was sidestepping the question a bit, it is very clear even to the casual observer that Apple and PayPass would certainly bring NFC to "critical mass" in the next couple of years.
Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Jan 2012 22:28
