Mobile Devices May Become the New Wallet
Just swipe your phone, they say, and you will be able to pay for your purchase. Sounds easy, but what if someone just swipes your phone?
In the most optimistic forecasts, in the United States we’re still years away from being able to routinely use our cellphones to buy what we want where we want. But when it comes to mobile commerce, banks, merchants, credit card companies, mobile operators and others are already chasing the money.
According to a story in Fast Company magazine, the goal is to snag a share of the processing fees associated with the $3.2 trillion in annual retail credit card charges, and to turn the $1.2 trillion in cash and check spending into digital transactions.
Can the “bad guys” be far behind? And how long will it take before consumers trust the technology?
Pretty long if you believe this weekend’s NPR story that focused more on security issues than on consumer benefits.
“I mean everybody has probably had the experience of losing a cell phone. It feels like your entire life has been lost,” said Glenn Derene, senior technology editor for Popular Mechanics. “And if your wallet is essentially in your cell phone as well, it's sort of a double whammy.”
Companies including MasterCard are marching forward, confident that it can model its mobile offering after its PayPass card product that uses a hidden embedded computer chip and radio frequency antennae.
According to the company, after you tap your PayPass at checkout, payment details are sent wirelessly to the MasterCard network.
“Moments after you tap, you will receive payment confirmation and are on your way,” MasterCard tells consumers.
In a new KPMG study, U.S. respondents who said they were comfortable using their mobile devices for financial transactions grew to 16 percent, a six percent increase from the last survey. Respondents not comfortable with such usage declined to 55 percent, an 11 percent drop from the last survey.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati