Apple Smartwatch Will Have NFC Payments

Apple plans to include the ability to do contactless payments in its rumored iWatch, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (Sept. 4), citing unnamed sources.

The smartwatch, like the new model of the iPhone that is expected to be announced next Tuesday (Sept. 9), will use a near-field communication (NFC) chip to let the watch be used to make payments in retail stores by tapping the watch against a point-of-sale device, the sources said. The NFC capability will also reportedly be used for a variety of other functions that include setting up communications between the watch and other “smart” household devices.

Payments made with the iWatch — or the iPhone — would use payment information stored as part of an Apple iTunes account to complete the contactless payment, according to the unnamed sources. (Wondering what else Apple has in mind? Check out an analysis of every payment patent they have recently been granted.)

However, while the iWatch is expected to be announced next week, the device will probably not be available until next year. Rumors originally said the device would ship in November, in time for the Christmas selling season, but design changes and production issues reportedly pushed the watch’s release date back.

Along with a role for digital payments, the smartwatch is also expected to do health and fitness tracking, with health data continuously transmitted to Apple databases. The company debuted a body-monitoring system called HealthKit in June at its Worldwide Developers Conference.