Will Your Smartphone Replace Credit Cards In The Near Future?

My wallet has already gone the way of the dinosaur cause I hate sitting on a bump on my butt and money clips were equally cumbersome to me, but I still carry credit cards w/my cash wrapped around them. Still cumbersome. But now, it looks as if our smartphones are sending our plastic into the oblivion of the obsolete like they have so many other things beforehand.

The technology powering smartphone payment systems is called “near field communication,” or NFC. It is essentially a short-range radio transmission. Devices with NFC capability have a special chip that sends signals to other NFC-equipped devices within an inch or so. The short range helps ensure security and streamlines the digital payment: You just touch your phone or tablet to the payment terminal and voila you’ve paid.

Worried about security of this over the airwaves ‘in the cloud’ system versus swiping your plastic? Read on…

Because your information is stored on a server, you have to enter a passcode to access your payment information. This makes the system far more secure than a standard credit card. For instance, if your phone is stolen, the thieves won’t be able to use it to make payments without your passcode.

If you think technology is the enemy of security lately, just remember that everything we use was once cutting-edge tech and there were people that balked at the idea of those items you take for granted now. Credit cards are tech, your ball-point pen is tech, your car is tech, radios are tech and even newspapers are tech. These are all still functional but are no longer ‘innovations’ but were once thought of that way and had their fair share of dissenters. Anyway, I didn’t intend on pontificating about that, haha, just got carried away. Getting off my soapbox now!

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So, I don’t know about you but the idea of clearing out my pockets completely and just having one gadget, my phone in there is extremely enticing and this technology already exists, although not on my poor iPhone yet. Android users have this NFC technology available to them already and iPhone users have passbook but thats really just a glorified bar-code scanner/organizer so it’s nowhere near what we’re talking about here. But, will credit cards go the way of the cassette tape, written letters and transportation by horseback. I think so, but we’ll just have to sit back and watch for now!

Here’s my Joe Tehan moment: Enjoy the comforts and conveniences that new digital technology has to offer, but don’t lose touch with the tangible, organic analog physical world. Balance is key. K, now I’m really off my soapbox!

Next: Sprint Installs FM Radio Chips In Their New Smartphones!

[Yahoo! News]