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????雖然并非官方消息，但《連線》（Wired）和《金融時報》（Financial Times）的資深記者在上周四報道稱，蘋果（Apple）的下一代電子消費品（確定包括iPhone，可能還包括可穿戴設備）將會配有可用于移動支付的NFC（近場通訊）芯片。 ????這是個重大消息，部分原因在于蘋果終于邁入了NFC領域，雖說有點姍姍來遲。 ????早在數(shù)年前，全球的其他地區(qū)就已經(jīng)開始采用該技術。參與者包括谷歌（Google）、三星（Samsung）、諾基亞（Nokia）、索尼（Sony）、黑莓（Blackberry）、Visa和萬事達（Mastercard）。在歐洲和亞洲的大部分國家，信用卡都采用這種技術與銀行和商家進行交易。 ????但在美國不是這樣。 ????這一點即將改變。Visa和萬事達已經(jīng)設定截止日期，要求美國的零售商在2015年10月前將磁條卡換成芯片卡。如果蘋果想要入局，現(xiàn)在就是個合適的時機。 ????今年4月，科技博客re/Code的杰森?德爾?雷報道稱，蘋果正在對支付行業(yè)的高管進行招聘面試。今年7月，科技博客The Information的阿米爾?埃弗拉提報道稱，在發(fā)布科技媒體所謂的錢包類產(chǎn)品“iWallet”之前，蘋果已經(jīng)和支付業(yè)打得火熱。上周四，《金融時報》也報道稱，蘋果已經(jīng)與荷蘭芯片制造商NXP接洽，讓后者為其提供NFC技術。 ????蘋果無法改變大多數(shù)美國人的購物方式。正如科技博客Stratechery的博主本?湯普森所指出的，要阻止人們使用現(xiàn)金與信用卡十分困難，因為它們都很好用。 ????但對于蘋果用戶，即“平價奢侈品”的用戶而言，新的支付平臺即將浮出水面。 ????《連線》的克里斯蒂娜?伯寧頓圍繞裝備NFC芯片的iPhone這個話題撰寫了一份報告，列舉了蘋果的一些有利因素： ????? 蘋果的iTunes記錄了超過8億個信用卡號碼 ????? 蘋果售出了3億臺配備藍牙的iPhone，擁有龐大的客戶群。 ????? 蘋果用于發(fā)射iBeacons信號的藍牙-長期演進技術（LTE）網(wǎng)絡正在迅速發(fā)展 ????? 蘋果擁有NFC和藍牙兩用支付系統(tǒng)的專利 ????? 蘋果擁有將財務數(shù)據(jù)存儲于“安全環(huán)境”的專利 ????? 蘋果擁有能夠感知地理位置和情境的支付系統(tǒng)的專利 ????根據(jù)伯寧頓的說法，在9月9日庫比蒂諾的蘋果發(fā)布會上，支付平臺將會作為最大亮點之一隆重登場。 ????而這一平臺能否部分應用于擁有舊款iPhone的用戶，或是那些買不起蘋果產(chǎn)品的人，我們?nèi)孕枋媚恳源?/p> ????修正及澄清：讀者詹姆斯?韋斯特在Twitter上稱我把NFC與EMV混為一談了。我相信他是對的。EMV代表Europay卡、萬事達卡和Visa卡的首字母簡寫，是一種讓信用卡讀卡器互通互用的國際標準。金融網(wǎng)站Datacard Edge表示： ????“NFC技術與EMV標準等金融交易領域的問題沒有直接關系。然而，該技術能夠讓移動設備的非接觸式支付成為可能，此外還在數(shù)據(jù)傳送、無鑰匙進門和許多其他領域有著更為廣泛的應用。”（財富中文網(wǎng)） ????譯者：嚴匡正 |
????It’s not official, but good journalists at Wired and the Financial Times reported Thursday that Apple’s next generation of consumer devices — iPhones for sure, wearable devices maybe — will come equipped with a NFC (near field communication) chip for making mobile payments. ????This is big news, in part because Apple is so late to the NFC party. ????The rest of the world switched to the technology years ago. Google, Samsung, Nokia, Sony, Blackberry, Visa, MasterCard. It’s the way credit cards talk to banks and retailers in most of the countries of Europe and Asia. ????But not in the U.S. ????That’s about to change. Visa and MasterCard have set an October 2015 deadline for U.S. retailers to switch from magnetic strips to embedded chips. If Apple wants in on the game, now’s the time. ????In April, re/Code’s Jason Del Ray reported that Apple was holding job interviews with senior payments industry executives. In July The Information’s Amir Efrati reported that discussions between Apple and the payments industry had heated up in advance of the launch of what the tech press is calling the “iWallet.” The Financial Times reported Thursday that Apple has tapped the Dutch chipmaker NXP to supply the NFC technology. ????Apple can’t change the way most Americans pay for things. As Stratechery’s Ben Thompson observes, it’s hard to disrupt cash and credit cards because they both work pretty well. ????But for Apple’s customers — the “affordable luxury” crowd — the pieces of a new payment platform are falling into place. ????In her report on an NFC-equipped iPhone, Wired’s Christina Bonnington ticked them off: ????? More than 800 million credit card numbers on iTunes ????? An installed base of 300 million bluetooth-equipped iPhones ????? A fast-growing network of Bluetooth-LTE transmitting iBeacons ????? A patent on dual-use NFC and bluetooth payment system ????? A patent on storing financial data in a “secure element” ????? A patent on a payment system that is location and context aware. ????According to Bonnington, the payment platform will be one of the tentpoles of the Sept. 9 press circus in Cupertino. ????Whether any part of the system works for people who own older iPhones — or for people who can’t afford Apple’s products — remains to be seen. ????Correction and clarification: Reader James Wester suggests on Twitter that I’ve just conflated NFC and EMV. I’m sure he’s right. EMV, which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa, is the international standard for credit card reader interoperability. According to Datacard Edge ????“NFC technology isn’t directly associated with financial transactions like the EMV standards. One of NFC’s applications, however, is enabling contactless payments via mobile devices, in addition to its much broader applications for data transfer, keyless door entry and much more.” See EMV vs. NFC Technology: Setting the record straight. |
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