How you're gonna pay for that: cash or credit card? Neither, with my cell phone!

I've been dreaming about something like this for a long time now: using the cell phone like a wallet, using its communication features to act as a payment system. This could simplify a lot of the daily shopping :-)

Now, we're getting close to that. Visa, the company with largest payment system in the planet, and Nokia, one of the world's largest cell phone manufacturer, joined forces to launch a global system to turn mobile phones into wallets. Users can pay for groceries and other purchases by swiping a phone over a reader that electronically communicates with a microchip on the phone. But phone owners must confirm the purchase with the push of a button (for security reasons in case your phone gets stollen) and complete the deal.

The wireless standard that will link mobile phones with payment systems in stores and elsewhere will be the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip, which will be hidden under the phone cover and makes contact when swiped over a reader.

Source: Reuters Tech News