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Apple Wins Patent For "iWallet"

Posted by samzenpus on from the pay-different dept.

redletterdave writes "Apple won a major patent for its 'iWallet' technology, which is a digital system that uses near-field communication (NFC) technology to complete credit card transactions and manage subsidiary financial accounts directly on your iPhone. On the home screen for iWallet, users can see their entire credit card profiles, statements, messages from their banks, and even adjust preferences or add additional cards. Within preferences, users can schedule credit card payments and set parental controls on their children, which allows kids to use their iPhones as wallets but limits the extent to which they can use it. Users can track their payments and statements within the iTunes billing system, which keeps the credit card information safe and secure."

5 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Great..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can lose my phone, camera, AND my wallet in one fell swoop?!?!?!?!?!

    Whats next... iPhone car keys?

    1. Re:Great..... by PeanutButterBreath · · Score: 5, Funny

      I would imagine that the iWallet could be remotely revoked.

      Sure. Say you reach for your iWallet to buy a coffee and realize that you left it at the news stand 10 minutes earlier. Fortunately, you have the ability to remotely disable access to your accounts. So, you just pull out your smart phone and. . .ruh-roh!

      Meanwhile, the clerk at the news stand sees that your iWallet has been left behind. Being an honest sort, he decides to try to reunite the device with its owner by calling. . .ruh-roh!

  2. Apple, anti-competition master. by Microlith · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And if you've ever wondered why Japan and Europe have had things like this for ages but we're just now seeing a glimmer of it here, it's because of stuff like this. No one ever gets ahead without someone tossing a landmine in your path and asking for their pound of flesh.

    I see that the site actually useful for linking, Patently Apple, is getting their monopoly fetish on. From the sounds of things, they've managed to patent the entire concept out from under everyone else. They've managed to claim ownership over the concept of configuring accounts and placing various transaction rules on them.

    So no one else can do that without Apple attacking them. I can't wait to have the entirety of NFC payments reserved exclusively to Apple devices, or Apple demanding exorbitant per-device fees for the ability to do so.

  3. No, they patented a system of NFC spending rules by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2012/03/apple-wins-patent-for-iwallet-the-one-that-will-rule-the-world.html

    "Apple has received a major Granted Patent that generally relates to establishing financial transaction rules for controlling a subsidiary financial account and, more particularly, to various systems, methods, and electronic devices configured to provide for the establishment of such rules."

    The rules basically come down to setting one account as a subsidiary of another, and the parent account then setting a system of spending rules and limits that apply to the subsidiary account. Optionally that these rules are transmitted to the bank as well, and applied generally outside of using the NFC as well.

  4. Re:The core problem with the digital wallet... by jo_ham · · Score: 5, Insightful

    *loses wallet*
    "Hello [$Bank]? Yes, I lost my wallet, can you cancel my card and send me a new one? A few days and it will arrive in the mail? Excellent!"

    *loses phone*
    *logs into Apple ID from any computer*
    *cancels card link to lost/stolen phone*
    *connects card to new phone*
    *continues life as normal, with minimum disruption to card access*

    This doesn't even need to be about Apple - NFC payments and "electronic wallets" are the future