[LINK] News: 'New mobile phones will double as credit cards'

[Roger Clarke]

New mobile phones will double as credit cards
By Holly Ife
News.com
April 27, 2007 01:00am
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21629005-2,00.html

MOBILE phones will be used as credit cards in Australia within two years.
Nokia, Samsung and LG Electronics have signed a deal with MasterCard 
to turn mobiles into "phone wallets".

They'll have microchips so they can be swiped across payment machines.

Mobile phone magnate "Crazy John" Ilhan said the system would be 
available in Australia within two years.

"This is the way of the future. Plastic cards won't exist in the 
future," he said.

"This will be fantastic for retailers, fantastic for banks and 
consumers won't have to carry an extra card. The mobile phone will 
end up being everything."

Mr Ilhan said millions of people around the world would need to 
upgrade handsets to access the new technology, and retailers would 
need to upgrade scanning technology.

The phone wallet will use wireless technology known as NFC, or near 
field communication, to read the credit card account number.

Small purchases could be automatically deducted from the card while 
larger ones would require a four-digit PIN.

"I have no doubt that this is the way of the future," MobileSelect 
spokesman Kim Wingerei said.


[Which leaves aside a few minor design details.

[But we've been waiting for rather a long time for this.

[This vignette was written 9 years ago, and set in a 'futuristic' 2005:
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/VADER.html

[And of course contactless cards, since re-badged as RFID, have been 
operational since about 1994.

-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
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Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW