Apple Has Reached Agreements W American Express Mastercard To Work On Iphone Payments System

We reported in May that Apple was expected to launch an iPhone payments system with the iPhone 6 and iOS 8.

Subsequent reports echoed that same Information including naming Visa as a partner.  Re/code today reports that Apple has signed up a major American financial institution to work on its iPhone wallet program.

Apple’s new payments system is expected to let iPhone 6 owners use their phone in place of a credit card or cash to pay for goods in brick-and-mortar stores. Customers will present their phones at the checkout counter of partnering retailers to transmit payment information to complete a purchase. It’s not clear which retailers have signed on to accept such payments.

Apple doesn’t have to re-invent the wheel here. Many U.S. stores now accept NFC-enabled Amex, Google Wallet/Mastercard Paypass, Visa Paywave and other electronic forms of payment besides the typical credit card swipe.

Update: Bloomberg chimes in with corroboration on Visa and American Express being partners, and their report adds MasterCard to the mix.

If Apple’s iPhone 6 has NFC, and many signs point to yes, most of the hardware is already in place. The rest is just software…and politics.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cml7g5MtS4]

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2WJaA5_rbQ]

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAhXK-ATKWw]