Demonstrating once again how embarassingly far behind the cellphone industry is here in the US, in South Korea banks, credit card companies, and the cellular carriers have teamed up to make it possible for people to easily make purchases with their cellphones:
Instead of handing over credit or debit cards that get swiped, users type their passcode on the phone keypad, point the device at a special receiver on a checkout counter and press a key. It’s as simple as operating a TV remote. The phone shoots the card data in an infrared beam or radio waves. No signature is necessary. For small payments at vending machines, the passcode isn’t even required. Transmissions are encrypted and secure, and subscribers who lose their phones can get them disabled within seconds by informing the credit-card company. Phone owners can apply transactions to either credit or debit accounts.
By the end of the year about 75% of retail locations should offer payment-by-cellphone. Why do we have the feeling that it’s going to be years and years before something like this is commonplace here?
