Credit or Debit? How about my Cell Phone!

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-20032840-78.html

Mobile is the new place to be, wither it is in apps or online commerce. The real questions is, who will get there first? With Mobile Commerce/Payments in mind, the recent successes in the UK  are finally starting to awaken the United States to a new trend in the ways consumers shop.So far US companies have been late in adopting technologies to easily facilitate this but as shown over the holiday season (EBay) people are willing to make/confirm purchases using mobile devices.

While most phone companies are waiting for phone operating systems and hardware (NFC-Near Frequency Chip) to become available, others have taken the initiative. I love how Visa has taken a step forward by introducing an App/SD card that you can manually place in your smartphone to use with card readers. Effectively this turns your phone into a functional credit card.

How safe is this? Visa and other smartphones coming equipped with NFC are reassuring people that it is a safer means of transaction compared to credit cards. It is only a matter of time until someone finds a back door or introduces some sort of trojan. Surely by then developers will make security features a bit more robust to address these threats. I have not heard of how these applications work but it would seem logical for some sort of pin verification as an additional tactile layer of security. Until then if you are going to use any of these applications i would highly recommend locking your phone with a password if you have not already.

The above article goes into more detail, but being a marketing/advertising major i cannot wait for this tech to be widely adopted. The implications of being able to serve interactive content that is actionable by the consumer opens the door on mobile marketing/commerce. Location based NFC "type: technology is where the industry should capitalize on impulse purchases and extending brand interactions to almost any place a smartphone can be used... All as long as it can be kept somewhat secure.

Best Regards,

-The Marketing Ninja