Disqus
MasterCard and Bell Mobility are in the midst of trialing contactless payments with mobile phones. About 24 million locations such as fast food restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores and convenience stores, which accept MasterCrd PayPass are involved in the pilot program. No signature is required for purchases under 50 bucks — all you have to do is place your mobile phone near the payment reader and watch your balance going down.
As for the security, MasterCard argues contactless payments are as safe as traditional card payment transactions. “Contactless payments also provide more consumer control, since the mobile phone doesn’t have to leave your hands to be swiped by a merchant/retailer. All PayPass enabled mobile phones are protected with Zero Liability coverage for any fraudulent transactions.”
MasterCard and Bell’s trial runs until November 2008. More information is available from MasterCard Canada’s website…
[Via: MobileSyrup]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
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