SINGAPORE ? Paying with smartphones might become more common as technology becomes more available on the devices. A quick tap of their phone will deduct funds from their checking account and add points to their loyalty cards, the New York Times reports.
One such system, Google Wallet, has been tested Nice, Italy; Oslo, Norway; Singapore; and Seoul, South Korea. The technology, which uses Near Field Communication, turns smartphones into virtual payment cards.
What?s hampering expansion has been the dearth of NFC-enabled devices. But this summer, BlackBerry announced its version of a NFC-enabled smartphone, followed by Google?s purchase of Motorola Mobility.
?Right now we?re hearing a lot of talk, mainly from Asian manufacturers, that they?re coming out with N.F.C.-enabled phones,? said Frederick Huet, managing director of Greenwich Consulting. ?You also have Apple hinting it will come out with N.F.C.?
Spurring development is the creation of Isis, a pilot program for NFC by AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, Visa, Discover, American Express and MasterCard. Isis has scheduled trials in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, in early 2012.
?We are at an inflection point,? agreed Ashwin Raj, who heads Visa?s mobile products for Africa, Asia Pacific, Central Europe and the Middle East. ?The handset manufacturers have started the ball rolling. Already terminal manufacturers are announcing their new terminals will support N.F.C. technology. There is finally momentum for this to take off.?
?Is it going to replace cash? No,? said Huet. ?But many consumers are now used to tapping a card to pay, and tapping a phone is not very different.?
Read the May cover story for more on mobile payments and be on the lookout for�the upcoming NACS Show October issue of NACS Magazine for part two of the discussion�.
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