iPhone 6 creating excitement around NFC capabilities

AUSTRALIA: Ahead of Apple’s launch of the iPhone 6, here are some thoughts from Eden Zoller, principal analyst, Consumer, at Ovum.

He said: “Ovum would expect Apple to prove highly effective at marketing NFC to consumers, creating awareness and excitement around NFC capabilities in a way others have so far failed to do. This is turn could help ignite merchant interest in NFC, that so far has remained cool due to lack of consumer uptake.

"It makes total sense for Apple to launch a payments service with the release of the iPhone 6, a move that will have a positive but also disruptive effect on the mobile payments market, particularly for mobile operators. Apple has been putting the pieces in place for a fully-fledged m-payments service for some time: Passbook, Touch ID biometrics, the iBeacon feature in iOS 7, the EasyPay feature in the Apple App Store application. It also has 800 million iTunes accounts on file, which is a huge base to leverage for m-payments and is potentially a significant revenue opportunity for Apple.

"It would also be logical for Apple to bring NFC into the m-payments equation. If Apple is forming alliances with major card schemes and riding on contactless rails then embracing NFC is a pragmatic move. We would expect Apple to prove highly effective at marketing NFC to consumers, creating awareness and excitement around NFC capabilities in a way others have so far failed to do. This is turn could help ignite merchant interest in NFC, that so far has remained cool due to lack of consumer uptake."