Just when I thought my smart phone couldn’t possibly do more than it already does, I came across an article that proved me wrong! Predictions have been made that by the year 2015 we will no longer need our wallets, but use our phones for payments instead! Apparently mobile payment transactions amount to $240 billion annually as it is and according to Juniper research, that number will triple in size over the next 5 years.

The technology of “near field communication” enables you to transfer data between two devices with just a physical touch. Smart phones will now begin to have the NFC chip installed within them, making it equivalent to paying with a credit card. Google predicts that by 2014 50% of all cell phones will use the NFC technology. Now that the technology is being taken advantage of by smart phones, the mobile technology companies are now in a race to be the top provider.

Many companies out there each have special perks, like Google wallet for instance. They are the mobile payment platform for all Android phone users and it automatically syncs with Google offers, enabling you to use any of the coupons they provide while you shop! Another great idea is the ISIS mobile wallet system; it can be used for any smart phone and also gives you the ability to store multiple credit and debit cards to be used whenever you want. Although this sounds exciting, I am personally a bit concerned with not only safe-guarding my phone for my contact information but now I have to worry about my credit card information. On the other hand I am all for it, now I’ll have less things to carry!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 11th, 2011 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.