Apple rumored to add iOS e-wallet via NFC to 2012 iPhone

According to reports from tech industry site DigiTimes, smartphone makers are convinced that Apple will be adding near field communications, or NFC, to the next-generation iPhone, widely expected to be released in 2012.

The current smartphone market only has about 10 percent adoption of NFC technology, but according to Taiwan-based phone manufacturers, that number could rise to 50 percent by 2013.

Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and RIM all have NFC-enabled phones currently on the market. Rumors last spring had Apple adding the e-wallet technology to iOS and what is now the iPhone 4S. That, of course, did not come to fruition.

With the hundreds of millions of iTunes customers that Apple has in its database, it stands to reason that adding an e-wallet, based on near field communications technology, would be easy to implement. In theory, an iPhone user would simply waive the phone near an NFC sensor at a checkout station, enter an Apple ID password on the iPhone, and the purchase would be paid for.

According to DigiTimes, "SIM-based NFC promoted by the GSM Association has won support from 45 mobile telecom carriers around the world, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Korea Telecom, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile and China United Network Communications, to become the mainstream NFC standard," which could resolve the ecosystem and standards issues that have slowed NFC adoption until now.

Assuming NFC standards are ironed out, would you use your iPhone (an iOS-based e-wallet using NFC) as your primary payment method? Let me know why, or why not, in the comments!