TechRadar reports on the contents of the patent filing, noticed by Business Insider. It describes a system that would show adverts for products to groups of people with a common profile, “based on the amount of pre-paid credit available to each user.”
In short, Apple would look at the balance of your bank accounts and then show you different products based on your current financial situation. The filing continues to state that this would be advantageous because only advertisements for goods and services which the users could actually afford would be displayed.
It would end the days of people looking at adverts for things that they may like but have no way of purchasing as the system would only show adverts for “objects having a purchase price less than or equal to the available credit for that user.”
As advertisements become ever more targeted to specific users, some may be concerned about the implications of Apple looking at your bank account to more effectively persuade you to eventually empty it. The company is clear that all users would have to opt-in to the system though and it seems probable that a mechanism similar to that of Apple Pay would be used to ensure that neither Apple or the advertisers ever get to see or store card numbers or personal credentials.
It’s unknown whether the contents of this intriguing filing will ever make their way into an Apple product. As with all companies, the existence of a patent does not mean that Apple is actively working on building its contents.
A system that assessed how much money you have today to make you more spend more money in the future would certainly be an interesting development in online advertising, although many are likely to feel unsettled at the idea. Advertising is already targeted but what could be done with access to personal data largely remains to be seen.
