“Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray said in a research note to investors on Friday, and provided to AppleInsider, that he believes Apple will make a push into the digital wallet space in the next few years,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider. “While some recent rumors have suggested an e-wallet could be tied to fingerprint scanning functionality in this year’s so-called ‘iPhone 5S,’ he suggested such a feature may not be likely to materialize until 2014.”
“But the key factor for Apple is iTunes: As of January, the company had more than a half-billion active iTunes accounts linked to credit cards,” Hughes reports. “Users’ existing accounts are already used for purchases on the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, Newsstand, and in-app purchases.”
Hughes reports, “Apple could have an advantage… because of its existing partnerships with some of the biggest retailers in the U.S.: Walmart, Target and Best Buy. He believes Apple could leverage those relationships to help kickstart its own e-wallet service.”
Read more in the full article here.