So Starbucks rolls out a new payment mechanism via iPhone… guess who owns the patent? Apple (see forbes link below). Top issue for banks regarding this payment mechanism is IP ownership…

Apple is trying to get a cut of the transaction revenue here… merchants would be insane to put yet another vendor in the mix at the POS… I don’t see it on HP/Verifone’s product plan either. This goes to a broader question around Apple’s NFC commitment, as most handset manufactures made commitments at the world mobile congress on NFC support, Apple has been quiet and vague.

We may be left w/ putting NFC stickers on the back of our beautiful iPhone.. . of course that is better then a card reader ( http://tomnoyes.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/iphone-at-pos-paybysquirrel/ )

https://www.starbucks.com/mobile-apps/#num=01&id=coffee_home
https://www.starbucks.com/mobile-apps/StarbucksCardMobile/default.asp
http://www.genoco.com/link/interactive_iphone+starbucks.html
http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/26/apple-patents-iphone-tech-wire-bc_1227appatent.html