Apple has set the internet abuzz with speculation it is targeting mobile payments after hiring NFC expert Benjamin Vigier.
The hiring of Vigier, a former product manager at mobile payment specialist mFoundry, has spawned oceans of ink since it was first reported on Friday.
Google News is currently indexing more than 70 stories on the new hire from the last 24 hours alone.
Vigier has taken the role of product development manager for mobile commerce.
He has reportedly worked on mobile payment projects for PayPal and Starbucks and has held NFC roles at French mobile operator Boygues Telecom and memory maker Sandisk.
Sources told the New York Times that Vigier wasn't the first NFC specialist Apple has recently employed.
This, coupled with the fact that Apple has been submitting a number of NFC-related patents in the past few months, has left pundits certain of an Apple push into the market.
The Times speculated that Apple could be planning to incorporate NFC technology into its new iAd platform, to allow users to receive information or coupons on nearby products.
Airline ticketing services and mobile payments handled through iTunes are also shaping up as likely services, based on the content of Apple's patent applications.
Estimates vary as to the potential of the mobile payments market. Generator Research forecasts that mobile payments will be worth $633.4 billion by 2014, up from $68.7 billion today, while Juniper pegs its at $630 billion by 2014.
Research and Markets expects the global market to rise to $1.13 trillion over the same period.
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