The iPhone manufacturer is looking at the Australian company, causing many brows to raise.
Rumors about NFC technology and mobile payments options with the added security of fingerprint scanning have been flying as Apple has shown an interest in an Australian company that is working on this form of “biosecurity”.
This has been especially interesting following the release of the iPhone 5, which omitted NFC entirely.
Many have wondered about Apple’s decision not to include NFC technology in its latest device, and there has been no shortage of expressions of disappointment about the fact that the latest smartphone from the top manufacturer in the world is already looking like it’s falling behind. However, the discussions between Apple and the Australian company called Microlatch regarding biosecurity may soon be answering a large number of questions.
This could imply that NFC combined with fingerprint technology will be in future iPhone generations.
This technology would apply patented recognition for fingerprints, “without the need for central processing or storage,” and is well within the strict banking security standards. It has been designed to work as a complementary feature to NFC mobile payments to ensure improved security of smartphone wallets.
Critics are beginning to think that Apple was waiting for a higher security version of the basic NFC option for mobile payments. This aligns well with the needs of consumers, who are continuing to voice security concerns as their main reason for resisting the adoption of transactions over smartphones.
It may be possible to greatly overcome this problem through their dealings with the Australian startup in biosecurity. This recent announcement is also well matched to the acquisition that Apple made back in July, when it made the $356 million (USD) purchase of Authentec. Authentec’s focus is also fingerprint security and would pair well with a deal with Microlatch in terms of both technology and patents.
This announcement also helps to further the assumption that NFC truly is the future of mobile payments technology and that companies are taking the additional steps required to assuage the security concerns of consumers.
