Technology website Tom's Guide is reporting on a patent filing released last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent, issued to Microsoft in September, describes a "Mobile Wallet and Digital payment" service.

From the post: 

The filing covers a "method that facilitates securing a wireless digital transaction" for "at least one of a good or a service." Microsoft refers to mobile devices that "can include at least one mobile payment card (m-card), wherein the m-card is created by establishing a PKC-secured link to an account associated with a form of currency." The link between a mobile device and a terminal is created via near field communication (NFC), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or RFID.

According to the post, the m-card is like a virtual credit card and can use a PIN or password for authentication as well as various methods to protect against fraud. Several security methods are suggested in the patent filing.

As noted in the post, there's no information at this point whether Microsoft is pursuing a mobile wallet strategy at this time, though it's safe to assume that like all companies in the mobile space, it's a topic Microsoft is certainly investigating.

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