Shout About Mobiles

The rumors have begun to appear again about phone manufacturers producing ways of allowing customers to pay for items via their mobile phones. At the moment, you have to call a number and pay by your card, or set up a standing order.

That is all expected to change.

Yes, previous rumors have disappeared as quickly as they arose without trace, leaving nothing behind to show there was actually anything in the pipeline.

But now we have heard that Orange is meant to be in talks with Barcley Card about producing a device with NFC technology (Near Field Communication).

The idea is that when you go to buy certain items, like a train ticket or your weekly shopping, all you need to do is to swipe your phone over a scanner and it will take your details and charge your account. Easy! Whether or not this idea catches on is yet to be seen, but I feel it could be a great idea.

The question I am asking though, is would this technology need to be agreed by all the networks and manufacturers? If one network said no, would phones using their SIMs still be able to facilitate this service?

Hmm…

But, it is only early days for this idea, so let us hope that the idea takes off and helps us reduce the amount of things we need to carry in our pockets and bags.