Apple's Passbook Isn't a Wallet, Yet

But Passbook sure looks like a wallet app. Passbook formally aims only to store loyalty, reward or other account information, from retailers that support barcode apps for boarding passes, store cards, and movie tickets, for example.

Of course, you might note that Apple has about 400 million iTunes accounts linked to user credit cards. So everybody recognizes that Apple could become a wallet of its own, with a mobile-enabled payment mechanism, if it chose to do so. For the moment, it seems content to operate a closed loop service for content purchases from its own "stores."