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Apple considers developing mobile payments service for physical goods

The company originally planned to create a wallet app in 2012, but backed out after concerns that consumers would blame it for any bad experiences with merchants.

APPLE COULD BE making its way into the mobile payments market after reports saying it’s working on developing its own payments service.

The industry is already crowded with the likes of PayPal, Google and Square already offering their own versions of mobile payments, but Apple is currently developing its own service that will handle payments for physical goods, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The company is preparing for a launch by moving Jennifer Bailey, a longtime executive who was running its iTunes stores, into a a new role to build a new payment business. Apple spoke to at least five other well-known executives in the payment industry about the position before approaching Bailey.

The company already has hundreds of millions of credit cards on file through its iTunes store to use, but it is not yet clear what form the service will take.

Back in December, Apple activated its iBeacon service in the US, which helps guide you inside Apple store to pick up orders or purchase goods.

It had experimented with ways to break into mobile payments in 2012, but backed out after concerns that consumers would blame Apple for any bad experiences they might have with merchants.

It also released Passbook during the same year, which was designed to store coupons, event passes, flight tickets, store cards and other items for easy access.

Read: Apple to refund parents of children who bought Apps without them knowing >

Read: Smartphone users are 33% more likely to fall victim to identity fraud >

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