Cashless: Someday soon your iPhone could replace your wallet

34 Comments

For some time now, “banks [have been] introducing various account management applications for the iPhone. While these stop short at use of these devices as a payment or debit card at least one major force in the banking industry payment solutions world is working on a solution that does just that,” Jonny Evans repots for Distorted-Loop.

“It’s attracted some interest from iPhone-types already, as representatives from the venture capital fund handling the $100 million iPhone developer ‘iFund’, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, recently took a look at the solution, which is being developed by Billing Solutions,” Evans reports.

“The solution enables developers to ‘easily add on-the-go purchase capabilities to their existing mobile applications,’ and while the focus of the product right now is on enabling developers to sell products and services within their applications, a secure credit card payment system for these mobiles can easily be imagined,” Evans reports.

“The only inhibiting factor to progress of the theorem will be security and identity – you don’t want to spark an explosion in mobile phone thefts by making it too easy for criminals to use these stolen devices to clean out people’s bank accounts,” Evans reports. “However, these barriers will be explored, potentially surmounted, and the introduction of new families of highly advanced mobile devices opens up such avenues.”

Evans writes, “Whether the public – you and me – will be prepared to accept such systems is open to question.”

Full article here.

Running Mac OS X or a mobile variant, “The Device” would allow the user to communicate via text, audio, and video. It would snap digital photos and organize them, do email, and browse the web. It would sync automatically with your desktop or portable Mac. It would run Sherlock for web services. With its large hard drive inside, and its included FireWire port, it would absorb the iPod by playing AAC / MP3 audio and interface with iTunes, but it would also play feature-length MPEG-4 movies, too, in full color… McDonald’s Drive Thru’s would accept payments via Bluetooth from ‘The Device.’ And, of course, it would have the basics like any PDA; your date book, to do list, calculator, etc. I figure a form factor about the size or a Newton or a bit smaller would do the trick. This would be “The Device.” iDevice? And only Apple, in concert with a partner like Verizon, Cingular, or Sprint, has everything in place to make “The Device” a reality today. – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, December 10, 2002

34 Comments

  2. Take Two:

    Japan mobile phone users have been doing this mobile payment things for some time now, which is why the iPhone is not selling in the millions yet over there—because it cannot yet do this very thing. Wallet? We don’t need no stinkin’ wallets!

    Reply

  5. Steve was on top of this years ago. I remember reading this type of thing right here ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />

    I always thought Steve sounded like his was on the right curve.

    Cool memories.

    Reply

  15. NO!!

    The iPhone is insecure and not worth the chance of losing funds.

    Sure perhaps small amounts, like anyone who has a brain keeps in “public use” accounts like checking/ATM/debit cards and transfers cash as needed from a more secure account, then perhaps so.

    But until Apple fixes the iPhone security issues…

    Just say no.

    Reply

  16. If the security issues can be put to bed I’m all for it. I have my iPhone with me everywhere I go and using it for purchases would be quite convenient.
    Just like credit cards have ‘built in protection’ against cleaning out your bank account, the same would have to apply when using your phone as a credit card.

    If it’s as easy as using a credit card and at least as secure, I’ll use it.

    Reply

  17. Security is a huge, deal-breaking issue for any plan that lets users actually charge purchases or transfer funds from a mobile device. Japanese consumers may already be doing this, but the question is: HOW do they make these transactions secure. Transmitting credit cards numbers (or even usernames and passwords) over a publically-accessible network seems incredibly risky.

    Of course, credit card holders are protected from losses due to unauthorized credit card transactions ($50 max), so the risk is not great. But giving your mobile device access to bank accounts sounds like Russian roulette to me.

    Reply

  18. Oh look, here’s MacGenius with his paranoia again…

    I bet you’re the same prick who was on these boards a while ago, getting your knickers in a twist about EFI and how it was the end of everything, you called yourself MacDude or something equally preposterous.

    MacGenius, you are certainly not living up to your moniker. Just shut the fsck up and go post your hokum somewhere else.

    Reply

  23. Payment via SMS makes anything special or unique to the iPhone rather pointless. Many countries around the world have adopted this payment system and it is as efficient and as simple as it can get. Here’s an example:

    I park my car in a Belgrade downtown street. The parking spot is in Zone II. The sign tells me what to do: Send a SMS message with my license plate number to 9113. I send the message and receive my receipt which says: “You have paid for a parking spot in Zone II until 11:35 on 25 November. Your mobile phone has been charged 12.50 Dinars.” Around 11:30, I will receive a reminder SMS that my parking time is about to expire. I can send another SMS (I don’t have to be at my car to feed the meter) and extend my time.

    In other words, there is nothing special about the iPhone that’s necessary in order to send and receive payments from a phone. All that’s necessary is an agreement with carriers and a proper infrastructure.

    Reply

  25. @Predrag

    If charges like this are getting added to your monthly phone bill, phone carriers will soon replace credit card companies and some banks.

    And you thought the credit check to purchase a phone was painful…

    Reply

  26. Come on you guys. It’s bad enough getting all of your personal information stolen from a guy lifting your iPhone, but all of your financial stuff as well? That’s scary stuff. What sort of safe-guards do they have in Japan and Finland where their phones can do this?

    Reply

  33. Nothing to see here, move along now! Kenya, a developing county has had a system like this working for years so much so that Vodafone went and bought the company. Safaricom

    Vodafone are now rolling that system to other developing countries like India. You loose your phone, you only loose the small credit that you purchased.

    You want to pay for services, you just text the sum required to the recipient who then cashes the money at an agency near you.

    Reply

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