Apple has once again aimed squarely at the FinTech market and followed up its recent patent application for P2P banking with another: e-commerce advertising based on your available bank balance.
With it's latest filing with the USPA, Apple is looking at a;
Method and system for targeted advertising of goods and services to users of mobile terminals, based for example on the users' profile. Goods and services are marketed to particular target groups of users sharing a common profile which may be selected to increase the likelihood of the users responding to the advertisements and purchasing the advertised goods and services. The common profile of users may be based on the amount of pre-paid credit available to each user. An advantage of such targeted advertising is that only advertisements for goods and services which particular users can afford, are delivered to these users.
While this is may appear a responsible move by Apple, targeting adverts for those with only the means to afford it, it flies in the face of what Tim Cook said at WWDC only this year; "You are not the product." - apparently we are Tim.
Our privacy is being attacked on multiple fronts… Some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information. They’re gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it. We think that’s wrong. And it’s not the kind of company that Apple wants to be.
Combined with Apple Pay, and the patent that will kill off Square and PayPal, Apple is absolutely targeting your wallet and how you spend your money.
In other words, you are the product, and you'll be told what products to buy.
