Apple rumoured to launch iWallet app using fingerprint sensors to make purchases

Apple is preparing to launch its ‘iWallet’ app, which would allow customers to use the iPhone’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor to verify their identity to securely and conveniently make retail purchases in stores, BiometricUpdate.com has learned in a report on The Information.

So far, it is believed that Visa has signed on to partner with the app, per a report in the Daily Mail, which is expected to launch this fall alongside the new iPhone 6.

The Information claims “conversations between Apple and payments-industry companies have heated up in recent months.”

It adds that “several people briefed on the talks say that Apple executives have discussed launching a mobile ‘wallet’ as soon as this fall for people to use their iPhones to pay for goods in physical stores.”

Apple has already told some of its partners that the new iPhone will include a “secure element” system that will allow it to store sensitive information such as financial credentials, according to the report.

This secure element system is expected to be the same secure system that currently stores the user’s fingerprint data and has the ability to store health data, according to the Daily Mail’s coverage.

Apple is apparently also looking to operate the system without giving up control to wireless carriers.

Article Topics

Apple  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint sensor  |  identity verification  |  iPhone  |  mobile  |  mobile payment  |  retail  |  rumors