Contactless Payment Comes to Mobile Phones

Forum members including former Philips chip unit NXP Semiconductors, handset maker Nokia (NYSE: NOK), and Visa International and MasterCard are at the vanguard in promoting the effort and have been conducting trials for more than two years. Most schemes entail using phones such as Nokia’s 3220 in the same way a person would use a debit card to pay for small items such as bus or train tickets, or retail goods at sporting events.

While most of the focus now is on using it as a cash substitute, possible applications are far wider. Norway’s Telenor is piloting NFC in a business setting to help departments check goods, for example, and find other ways to manage assets more efficiently. The NFC forum has recently come out with a standardized format for a so-called "smart poster" which will enable a handset user to obtain data such as a URL or a ringtone from a poster or other printed material.

Source: Newsfactor

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. I’ve seen a few online videos of places in Japan that are testing this out. I’ve also seen soda machines where you dial a number on the front and your beverage of choice pops out. I’m apart of a generation that’s already cashless. We buy everything online, and when we’re shopping at brick and mortar stores we use plastic. This is a step in the right direction, as long as it’s safe.