MobilePay puts your wallet in your phone
MobilePayUSA, a Californian startup, has developed software which allows mobile phone users to ditch the plastic and pay for goods in real world stores using only their handsets.
Such technology is of course nothing new; the Japanese have been using it for years with something called Near Field Communication. However the prohibitive cost of converting conventional tills, up to $500 each, has restricted growth.
A further deterrent is security as card details must be stored on the phones SIM and transmitted to the till to conduct a transaction.
The new service ditches all that to offer a simpler set up. Having signed up via the MobilePay app or website a geo location tool identifies the merchant which the user simply taps to confirm the store.
From there it’s a simple matter of entering your PIN, payment amount and hitting the ‘pay now’ button. The technique is said to be as fast as 2 sec with simultaneous payment confirmations to both the user and till.
Already MobilePay are investigating the introduction of virtual loyalty cards and tweaking the service to allow online payment, fund transfers and bill payments.