Evan ThomasApple is reportedly planning an expansion of its mobile payment system to include physical goods.
The Wall Street Journal cites insiders at Apple, who say the company is sending executives to meet with retail industry reps and building a team to handle the payment business from within.
9to5mac points out Apple has tools built into its mobile hardware and software, like a barcode-scanning camera and the card-wrangling Passbook app, that make mobile payments look like "an obvious next step."
Apple has also released the Apple Store App, for making purchases from an online or physical Apple Store location through an iTunes account. (Via YouTube / DetroitBORG)
But these tools and services are only part of the equation. iDownloadBlog points out "There's a reason why no one in the [mobile payment] space—Isis, Google Wallet, payWave, etc.—has been able to pull ahead. Size."
TechCrunch suggests Apple, with its estimated 600 million stored credit card records, is in the best position to corner the market.
"To put that in perspective, PayPal has around 137 million active accounts, according to the company's own current figures. The dormant potential for Apple is huge, in other words."
Still, it’s not clear exactly how Apple might capitalize on this advantage. The company declined to comment for The Wall Street Journal’s story.
