Apple is investigating the possibility of adding the functionality of its Siri virtual assistant to its iMessage service that would enable iPhone users to perform P2P payment transactions, a recent patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office reveals.
The patent describes how “one or more of the participant users can select to utilise a virtual assistant to assist the participant users with tasks during the communication session” including the ability to assist in performing a financial transaction.
“A task can be any type of action that a virtual assistant can provide assistance with,” the patent reads. “For example, a task can include scheduling a meeting, performing a financial transaction, determining an estimated time of arrival, providing directions, providing weather information, alerting a user of relevant information etc.”
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The virtual assistant could “assist with performing a financial transaction amongst multiple participant users of a communication sessions”, the patent adds.
“A virtual assistant can determine the financial applications available and/or utilized by each of the participant users and recommend a financial application to perform the financial transaction.”
Earlier this month, PayPal enabled money transfers via Apple’s Siri voice command function, enabling users with iOS10 devices to make payments by speaking requests. The function will be available in 30 countries.
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