We have already heard reports of kids using their camera phones to sell marijuana via MMS.
Rosy market reports had retailers gunning to be the first national chains to use cell phone enabled shopping, but consumer fears have successfully stalled the predicted trend.
Best Buy had to nix their wireless payment program because the system left customer credit card numbers exposed.
While the idea of using a mobile phone as a credit card makes the collective North American Consumer a bit nervous, Japan has already embraced and implemented the practice. NTT DoCoMo announced last month that consumers may “swipe” their cell phones at any RF enabled reader.
DoCoMo has pioneered this form of mobile payment using the FeliCa system, which enables users to make micro-payments with their handsets. Subscribers to the new credit card system will be able to make larger payments using their ‘o-saifu-keitai’ (mobile wallet) and a password for authorisation. Smaller payments will be processed automatically without the need for a PIN number.
Article from The New York Times.
Calling all retailers: 2006 may finally be the year that consumers start buying goods with their cellphones.
With people already spending billions on ring tones, wallpaper and games for their phones, analysts and retail executives say they believe it will not be much of a leap to get them to use their phones to buy shoes, books and laptops.
“This will start to show up on the radar screen in 2006,” said Roger Entner, an analyst with Ovum, a technology consulting firm in London. “The more different pieces we add to these Swiss Army phones, the easier it is to get user acceptance for the next application. And especially around next Christmas, the convenience of shopping on a computer or a cellphone will beat the mall hands down.”
If this trend does manage to take off, credit card companies may have to worry about competetion from cell phone service providers, who may soon start operating simultaneously in the mobile and credit card markets.
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