Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Soon To Accept Payment Cards Through Passbook

About a month after releasing its virtual wallet iPhone app, named Passbook, Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) is now gearing to put the attribute to good use in its physical retail stores.

Later this month, Apple will be seeding a modernized version of its mobile point-of-sale system software to Apple store workers. This update is numbered version 12.3. it will let retail workers with EasyPays to capture codes of Apple Store payment cards from customer iPhones and iPod touches that run Passbook.

Apple’s Easypay software should be ready for Passbook by this month. However, some sources have noted that the current EasyPay hardware, at a few retail stores at least, would not be able to scan iOS device displays. It is being presumed that Apple is working on a way out for this.

Apple’s plans for releasing consumer-facing Apple Store app update to support Apple Store cards based on Passbook are not very clear at the moment. However, with Apple gearing up for seeding software to its stores that interacts with Passbook on customer iPod touches and iPhones, it is being believed that the feature will be rolled out soon.

There are speculations that Apple could theoretically work on expanding Apple Store-Passbook integration beyond the barriers of just the card. There are chances that the Passbook location integration could be utilized to sing in to Genius Bar appointments or to pick items up in service with the help of the Genius Bar.

Apple presently lets customers to buy items like accessories through iTunes from Apple Store iOS app’s Easy Pay feature. The differentiator here is the upper limit for a gift card. Hence, customers could pay for their new iPads, iPhones, iPods and even Macs with the help of their current iOS 6 mobile devices through an Apple store employee.