Microsoft is applying for licenses to be a money transmitter
The mobile payments category is on its way to becoming a bit crowded. We already have Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and around the bend we can spy Android Pay (which will be separate to Google Wallet) and Samsung Pay. Might we add Microsoft Pay to the mix? While nothing is yet imminent, it's being reported that Microsoft has quietly begun applying for money transmitter licenses in all 50 states and a handful of U.S. territories.
Microsoft's also not going to great lengths to hide its tracks and assumed intentions. On an application submitted by Microsoft at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that was found by banking consultant Faisal Kahn, Microsoft used the name "Microsoft Payments, Inc.," ArsTechnica reports.
According to Kahn, Idaho was one of the first states to issue a money transmitter license to Microsoft, which is listed on the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) registry. NMLS only publishes info on applications that have been approved.
ArsTechnica points out that Microsoft previously announced that Windows 10 for phones and small size tables would support Host Card Emulation, which could allow for transmitting credit card information without a Secure Element inside a SIM card. That's important because it makes Microsoft's payment platform independent of the SIM, and by extension, not tied to a specific wireless carrier.
Microsoft told Ars not to expect an announcement at this early stage, but did confess that "becoming a money service business gives us flexibility to provide new, innovative cloud services to our customers."
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