As the mobile wallet wars heat up, a newly approved patent could play a major role. Earlier this week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an approved patent to Apple for an e-wallet.
While patent No. 8,127,982 is entitled Parental Controls, and describes such embodiments as a parent setting up a prepaid account for a child, it could also be used in other contexts where there is a subsidiary financial account. These could include an employer setting up a mobile wallet for an employee, for instance. The patent also describes credit card statements that are sent directly to iTunes accounts.
iWallet for iPhone 5?
The rules for the use of the subsidiary account could include a time period, merchant categories or named retailers, geography, and so on. The main account holder can define the rules.
While that seems to constitute a relatively limited patent, some observers see the legal protection as being potentially broad. That viewpoint is based on the fact that, since purchases on a mobile device will be linked to iTunes accounts, users will be able to create rule-based transactions for themselves and others, all driven from iTunes.
The speculation includes the possibility that, just as the intelligent voice agent Siri was the key innovative feature in the iPhone 4S, an iWallet might play that role for the coming iPhone 5.
With mobile devices so prevalent, mobile wallets are now becoming a hot new territory, with several major companies and a variety of smaller ones jockeying for position.
Late last month, for instance, several major credit card companies announced deals with Isis, a joint venture based in New York City. The Isis Mobile Wallet is owned by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless.
Other Wallets
In that announcement, Chase, Capital One, and Barclaycard said they will allow their credit, debit,…
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