Um... your link doesn&#x27;t refute parent. Passbook in 2012 was just an endpoint for things like boarding passes, tickets, and gift cards you bought elsewhere.<p>From related link [1]:<p>&gt; There&#x27;s no NFC in the new iPhone, but you&#x27;ll be able to use your screen as a scannable gift card&#x2F;plane ticket&#x2F;voucher&#x2F;etc. with Passbook, which creates a virtual bundle of all those annoying cards you cram into your wallet. Here&#x27;s an ideal little scenario for you: a free cup of coffee at Starbucks, because you&#x27;ve got a $25 credit built right into your phone. Hand it to the cashier, beep, coffee, slurp, bye.<p>If you think this somehow stymied NFC... thats an incredible stretch. Before Apple was it the gift card mafia stopping NFC? Were merchants going to just throw away their perfectly usable POS machines... because technology?<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;gizmodo.com&#x2F;5944514&#x2F;all-the-best-new-features-of-ios-6" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;gizmodo.com&#x2F;5944514&#x2F;all-the-best-new-features-of-ios-...</a>