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While AuthenTec's board of directors is expected to approve Apple’s acquisition ^[2] of the fingerprint sensor company for $356 million, a new report claims that Apple also plans to draw on expertise of other company to assist with creating its mobile payment service. The Australian reports ^[3] that Apple has reached a deal with Australian firm Microlatch ^[4] to work together on integration of similar fingerprint recognition technology with mobile payments via NFC (near filed communications).

Word on the deal comes from a lead investor in Microlatch and former head of the Commonwealth Bank David Murray.

“Mr Murray said the company had an agreement with the notoriously secretive Apple to develop fingerprint technology for use in near-field communications applications.

Microlatch has patented fingerprint identification technology that meets banking security standards without the need for central processing or storage; a process Mr Murray described as "self-registering".

Details on Apple’s agreement with Microlatch are yet unknown, but it is certain that Apple is seriously interested in both mobile payment and fingerprint recognition technologies.