Using Your Cellphone as a Credit Card

Taking a service that is growing in Asia, Motorola Inc. is planning to launch a system that will allow people to purchase products simply by waving a cellphone with an embedded chip over scanners at the cash register. The WSJ reports.

"Motorola is the first telecom-equipment maker to attempt to launch a large-scale mobile-wallet service in the U.S. One of the hurdles to overcome hurdle is getting retailers to participate and in some cases to invest in upgrading their checkout scanners to communicate with phones equipped with embedded chips.

... People will also be able to use the service to transfer money to each other. Motorola executives say the feature could save consumers money if the carriers charge lower fees than banks for money sent abroad.

There are other limited experiments in pay-by-phone services. Cingular Wireless has been running a trial in Atlanta's Philips Arena that allows season-ticket holders to use Nokia 3220 mobile phones equipped with a special chip from Philips Electronics NV to purchase food and drinks during events. The consumers must have Chase-issued Visa credit-card accounts."

emily | 8:37 AM | SMS and Micro Payments |
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