Buying stuff on your iPhone(s appl) is about to become easier: Apple has added a feature to Safari in iOS 8 that uses the iPhone's camera and optical character recognition to scan your credit card number instead of typing it in.

safari-ios-8-credit-card-scan-01

Screenshot from 9to5Mac, ttp://9to5mac.com/2014/06/05/safari-in-ios-8-uses-camera-to-scan-and-enter-credit-card-info/

Spotted by 9to5Mac, the new feature is similar to a method Apple provides for adding iTunes gift cards to an AppleID. When it encounters an appropriate form online, Safari will detect that a credit card number is being requested, and the iPhone keypad will have an option to "Scan Credit Card." The option also pops up for expiration date and CVV fields, but requires a separate scan.

This feature has not been added to Apple's other apps that can take credit card input, such as the App Store.