Apple Mobile Payment plans underway; iPhones to replace credit cards?

You never leave home without it. That's probably why Apple, Inc. wants to replace your credit card with your iPhone.

Tech industry sources confirm that Apple intends to develop a mobile payments system of its own centered on using the iPhone as a payment device. Apple is reportedly talking to PayPal about its planned mobile payments system. Neither company would confirm or deny the rumors.

Apple wants to use the nearly 600 million registered iTunes accounts and their associated credit card information to get a foothold and then build out from there, according to tech website Re/code.

Mobile payments systems such as Google Wallet are money aggregators - they accumulate credit card and loyalty card information, reducing the number of things a user has to carry to access his money.

This is the tough part of Apple's equation since banks, credit card networks and retailers all need to get on board for mobile payment systems such as that envisioned by Apple to totally replace regular cards.

That doesn't seem to deter Apple. Apple is said to be "very, very serious" about hiring new executives to head its new mobile payments system, according to Re/code.

Apple CEO Tim Cook previously indicated Apple's interest in mobile payments, tending to confirm the rumors. "We're seeing that people love being able to buy content, whether it's music or movies or books, from their iPhone, using Touch ID," said Cook recently. "The mobile payments area in general is one that we've been intrigued with, and that was one of the thoughts behind the Touch ID. But we're not limiting ourselves just to that."

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