JAYFORCE

Apple is going HARD! A new iPhone 5… and now this: making it so your iPhone replaces the need for cards, coupons, and even cash!

There has been much talk over the past few years about turning phones into digital wallets — paying for things seamlessly, in addition to surfing the Internet and making calls. While “the technology isn’t there” for customers to simply swipe their iPhones to make purchases (says Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee), Apple Passbook is expected “to pave the way for mobile payments eventually.” Apple already boasts on its website that, “With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod Touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie and redeem a coupon.”

And that is just the beginning. Passbook and its potential really have analysts and developers excited:

“Your mobile device will become your wallet. Whether it’s in a few months, a year from now or longer, it’s going to happen,” Daniel Delshad (app developer) says.

According to Wu, the long-range game plan for Apple is to have the smartphone do everything — start the car, lock it, open the house and garage, turn on the air conditioner and heater — and, of course, become the vehicle to pay for goods with a swift swipe of the phone.

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