While the world waits for the dust to settle from this morning’s new iPad and Apple TV announcements, here is more news from the fruity company – the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has approved a patent application that might see Apple introduce a mobile payment service, at least according to analysts. According to the patent’s description, “the financial transaction rules may be based upon transaction amounts, aggregate spending amounts over a period, merchant categories, specific merchants, geographic locations, or the like.”
The patent application has images that depict an app known as E-Wallet, but it still remains to be seen whether Apple will introduce such a service with the prefix “i”. – the iWallet, perhaps? With this patent, it would mean that rumors concerning a mobile payments solution that relies on near-field communication technology from Cupertino is nearer to reality than ever before.