Article Summary:
Related posts:5 More Credit Card Myths to Watch Out For!Credit Card Reward Programs:
Article Content:
Waving your phone in front of a cash register in order to pay for an item may seem unimaginable, but phone payments are coming soon to a retail store near you. According to Bloomberg, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are creating a new partnership that will allow customers of these carriers to pay for purchases using a smartphone. Not only are Visa, American Express, and MasterCard shaking in their boots, but the three mega-companies may also be left in the dust by Discover – the one company that just happens to have a piece of the new phone payment pie.
Even though Visa and MasterCard currently have an 82% share of the credit card market, this percentage may soon begin to decline. Discover is the one credit card company set to team up with T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon in order to become a third party processor, while Visa and MasterCard sit and wait on the sidelines. This new technology will also change the way that consumers handle everyday transactions. Instead of carrying around a wallet bulging with plastic, the only thing that you’ll need in the future is your cell phone (which most people already carry).
The new smartphone system is also a lot easier to use than any credit card. With the help of radio waves, waving a smartphone in front of a special device is the only action that you’ll have to take in order to pay for an item. Atlanta, Georgia, is set to be the first smartphone payment trial city. Three additional U.S. cities will follow suit, though there’s no word yet as to which cities have been chosen. The word on the financial street is that the three phone companies are still searching for a CEO to head up the operation, and when that happens the smartphone project should be put into motion.
Presumably, some security concerns will have to be ironed out before the smartphone service becomes widely available, though similar services already exist in Turkey, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Smartphone payment companies would have to ensure that a person’s private data is not leaked while paying for an item. Further, the trio of companies that are set to start the smartphone service would have to make sure that credit card companies don’t begin to follow suit – seemingly, it’s only a matter of time before Visa, American Express, and MasterCard come out with their own smartphone.
In light of the recent credit card crackdown and general mistrust of credit card companies by the American public, now seems like the perfect time for smartphone companies to introduce a new way to pay for purchases. With the biggest consumer offenders (Visa, American Express, and MasterCard) out of the way, smartphone companies may stand a chance at winning over the masses. This (coupled with the fact that waving a smartphone is simply easier than signing a document or remembering a pin number) could mean the end of credit cards as we know them – and for many fed-up consumers, this would be cause for celebration.
Related posts:5 More Credit Card Myths to Watch Out For!Credit Card Reward Programs: How To Make The Most Of ThemThe Best and Worst of the Credit Card Industry
———————