Microsoft (MSFT) announced Wednesday that a mobile wallet will be built into its new Windows Phone 8 operating system.
The software, which will debut this fall, will work with a "secure SIM" card that can be loaded onto any phone and enable tap-and-go payments in phones with embedded NFC chips.
Unlike Google, which places the secure element within its phone, Microsoft will allow mobile operators to embed the secure element within the portable SIM chip and dictate the terms of the mobile wallets. (A SIM card, also known as a subscriber identity module, is a smart card that stores data for cellular telephone subscribers.)
"In general, the mobile operators prefer the model of the secure element on the SIM, and in many cases that's better for end users, too, because it's easy to transfer from one phone to the next," said Joe Belfiore, Microsoft's corporate vice president, at a
He said that Microsoft is working with JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to enable a native Windows Phone app within the wallet.
Belfiore said that the computer giant has also been working closely with Isis, which is currently piloting its mobile wallet in Austin and Salt Lake City. Microsoft plans to launch its wallet with the joint venture of AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, next year.
The Windows wallet will store coupons and loyalty cards.
The announcement was made in the wake of Apple's disclosure of its Passbook app, which will be included on its new iPad and iPhone mobile operating platform iOS 6.
Passbook is not quite a wallet, however. It can only be used to store information for loyalty cards, concert tickets and airline boarding passes on the user's iPhone or iPad. The app displays a barcode that can be scanned to redeem rewards at the point of sale or tickets at the door or gate.
"In terms of credit and debit, it cannot be used for that," says Drew Sievers, chief executive and co-founder of mFoundry, a vendor that develops mobile apps for banks. "They also call this Passbook instead of wallet since it's not technically a wallet ...yet."
