A patent filed by Microsoft was recently released by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office detailing a mobile wallet and payment service.
In the patent Microsoft describes a “Mobile Wallet and Digital payment” service. The patent covers a method for facilitating and securing a wireless transaction where the mobile device contains an “m-card” that is linked to a payment account and communicates to a payment terminal component via Bluetooth, RFID, Wi-Fi or Near Field Communication. Although the patent was released in February, it was originally filed in September of 2011.
Microsoft has not made any official statements about a mobile wallet, but the fact that they filled a patent for one shows that is very possible they could release a mobile wallet application of their own. As mentioned in a previous FraudBlog post, it was recently uncovered that Microsoft intends on including NFC capabilities in their Windows Phone 8. While it’s likely Windows Phone 8 will support multiple mobile wallets, it would also present an opportunity for Microsoft to distribute their mobile wallet by pre-loading it on Windows Phone 8 devices.
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