Apple buys startup to turn iPhones into payment terminals

Apple Inc has acquired Mobeewave Inc, a startup with technology that could transform iPhones into mobile payment terminals. — Dreamstime/TNS

Apple Inc has acquired Mobeewave Inc, a startup with technology that could transform iPhones into mobile payment terminals, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mobeewave’s technology lets shoppers tap their credit card or smartphone on another phone to process a payment. The system works with an app and doesn’t require hardware beyond a Near Field Communications, or NFC, chip, which iPhones have included since 2014.