There’s some speculation on TechCrunch about Apple’s next big move, which it thinks could be into mobile payments.
Apple is rumoured to be interested in buying BOKU*, a mobile online payments company, with a view to incorporating their technology or leveraging their knowledge of mobile payments, for use in the next generation of iPhone (iPhone 5).
Apple already has extensive knowledge of micropayment through iTunes, and the next step might be to take this out into the “real” world, by making the iPhone into a virtual wallet with the use of near-field communiction (NFC) technology.
* There’s now speculation that Google may be interested in purchasing BOKU too.
Does this suggest that both Apple and Google are serious about making mobile payments work? If either can crack this particular nut, they’ll be able to make their phones even more indispensable than they already are to many people, as well as shaking up the mobile carriers, banks and PayPal, all at the same time.
