Apple’s upcoming smartwatch can be used to make payments.
The iWatch has been promoted as a health and fitness tracking device, but will have a wireless mobile payment feature that could see more everyday use.
The Wall Street Journal notes that Apple’s smartwatch will have near-field communication (NFC) technology that allows a radio signal to be transmitted between the device and a receiver when they are in very close proximity.
This means that users of the iWatch can literally “tap-to-pay” for their purchases.
The iWatch would use the credit card information stored with iTunes to make the transaction.
Security will definitely be on top of an iWatch owner’s head, so Apple would most probably have an “extra security feature” in the iWatch “employs a different set of security codes each time it is used, so that credit and loyalty card information is encrypted,” an Apple source told WSJ.
The iWatch is but one new Apple product that will feature NFC. Reliable tech leaker TK Tech News recently uploaded a photo of the iPhone 6’s NFC to Instagram.
Apple fans might have a bit of a wait before they get to lay their hands on the iWatch, however, as KGI Securities analyst and trusted tech tipster Ming-Chi Kuo recently predicted a 2015 release for the smartwatch.
