Checking in at number 54 on Vanity Fair’s 2016 New Establishment List, Apple executive Eddy Cue was recently asked what current-day items will likely be obsolete in five years time. Cue’s answer was rather telling: “Keys, physical wallets, and cash.”
Apple doesn’t often telegraph its future product plans, but this is as close to a confirmation as you’ll ever see regarding Apple’s plan to make the wallet obsolete. As it stands today, Apple Pay has already made it much more convenient to walk around without cash or credit cards. Looking to broaden its attack on the wallet, Apple now appears intent on going after physical transit cards as well.
DON’T MISS: A $17 billion Galaxy Note 7 sales loss might not even be the worst thing for Samsung
Apple Pay already works in tandem with some transit systems such as the MTA in New York and the London Underground, but Apple has its eyes set on expanding Apple Pay’s transit reach considerably over the next few months.
Apple is looking to serve more transit systems as cities like New York and Boston move toward tap-based mobile payments as an option. Some commuter rail lines servicing both cities currently let customers buy tickets from within an app.
Notably, Apple with the iPhone 7 outfitted devices in Japan with FeliCa Type-F NFC technology, thereby allowing users in the country to rely upon their iPhones for transit-based travel simply by tapping their phones to a scanner.
Cue’s profile from the aforementioned Vanity Fair piece can be viewed below.
