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See something you want? Charge it with... your cell phone?

blogs.moneycentral.msn.com — What's next? Apparently, a credit card in your cell phone Håkan Djuphammar, a vice president of Ericsson, predicted all cell phones will come equipped with enabling technology within a year. In the U.S banks and other companies are test-driving an RFID sticker that can be attached to your cell phone so you can use it to buy stuff

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 28, 2009

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  • inactive, on 06/28/2009, -1/+85Japanese have been doing this for like 8 years already.
  • DontHassleHoff, on 06/28/2009, -1/+60Welcome to Japan, circa 2003
  • Totenkopf88, on 06/28/2009, -1/+38Yes,I heard about this from Japan awhile back. I got an idea,why don't we check up on Japan TODAY and copy them right away?
  • JKAL, on 06/28/2009, -1/+31yes, and this is one of the main reasons the iPhone and alike have failed miserably in Japan, it is a very common and vital part of a mobile phone in Japan.
  • PandaBearShenyu, on 06/28/2009, -0/+28Japan and the rest of Asia has only had this for... how many decades?

    They can go browse the Mcdonald's website on their phones, select a menu, and when they walk in, just put the phone on this special scanner thing and it'll order the food for them.

    It boggles my mind how crappy and obsolete North American phones are, most of them lack even the most basic of features. I weep when people here go nuts over a 1.3 mega pixel camera in a phone... lol
  • EnTaroTassadar, on 06/27/2009, -0/+25It's an RFID sticker. You can put it on anything, really. Old tech, even older concept.

    Still, I wouldn't mind it finally being put into practice.
  • Sangreal2007, on 06/28/2009, -1/+25Great. So someone can steal my cell phone AND my credit card at the same time.
  • dengzhi, on 06/28/2009, -2/+24iphone is outdated
  • WorldGroove, on 06/28/2009, -0/+22Because the North American cellphone market is freakin' scam and no new tech can be introduced into the USA cellphone market without being sure they have all the proper cellphone-plans to nickel&dime the customer at every level.
  • r0b1, on 06/28/2009, -0/+18Don't they do this in Europe already?

    As an American it is shameful that we're so far behind when it comes to this kind of application for technology that has been used by the rest of the world for years. I don't get it.
  • spookyttws, on 06/28/2009, -0/+16I thought the meant I could charge my (insert electronic device) with my cell phone. Good, that would have been a dumb idea.
  • ZenMojo, on 06/28/2009, -0/+14It's true. If cellphone companies can make money through forced obsolescence they'll keep you in the dark ages forever.
  • lazyrussian, on 06/28/2009, -0/+14And France and Germany Circa 2005.
  • inactive, on 06/28/2009, -1/+14cool now all I need is an RFID reader to steal identities
  • donsherio, on 06/28/2009, -0/+11Just copy the Japanese instead of making it yourself. They have the system in place already, just use that. Honestly
  • Jpeg2600, on 06/28/2009, -0/+10even if you don't understand what comes out from the RFID signal, it can be read and replicated easily.

    at least there's some effort to put when you clone a credit card. With RFID you can read the signal from a great distance. I will never trust this thing.
  • redrock34, on 06/28/2009, -0/+10Isn't the RFID chip an insecure method of payment? I remember reading how someone can buy a RFID scanner and just boost the signal to read everyone's info in the room. Mythbusters were also told by the credit card companies not to do an episode based on how secure RFID is.
  • redline6800, on 06/28/2009, -2/+12Yes and no, the main reason iPhone or any other major international mobile phone brands fail in Japan is because of their inferior product. The inability to purchase stuff with it is just a very small part of it.
  • rhabdomancer, on 06/28/2009, -1/+11I WANT ONE OF THESE RFID TAGS PUT ON MY FOREHEAD SO I CAN EASILY PURCHASE VALUABLE GOODS AND SERVICES

    ALL GLORY TO OUR CORPORATE OVERLORDS
  • pika2000, on 06/28/2009, -0/+10I think American consumers should learn first about the concept of unlocked cellphone. Baby steps. This idea of using phone to buy stuff is too advance for the ancient US cellular market. I mean come on, US consumers are still paying to RECEIVE calls/SMS.
  • jreinstedler, on 06/28/2009, -2/+10WTF this is old news... they've been talking about doing this one way or another long before RFID showed up.
  • TexMexRex, on 06/28/2009, -1/+8Wait untill they try this in Japan!
  • fightingforair, on 06/28/2009, -0/+7Well, a few folk have mentioned it already so I'll add on some more detail about it.

    Japan has thought about this for awhile now. Commuter passes/cards can be programed into the cellphones. Instead of touching your metro card down to go to your train/bus you can put down your cellphone. You can do this for many stores here as well. You just have to look for the appropriate logo outside of the store. Most convenience chain stores carry the appropriate stuff for you to do such a transaction.
  • AlienMushroom, on 06/28/2009, -1/+8Because stupid Americans love paying for it.
  • notoneofus, on 06/28/2009, -0/+7Most people here in Japan uses email on their phones, not SMS. You can only SMS between people who are on the same carrier, so it's only useful to send to friends who I know are using Softbank. Emailing is much easier (and you're only paying for the time you're sending data).
  • matt.rubin, on 06/28/2009, -0/+6Hasn't Japan had this for like 5 years?
  • hartley, on 06/28/2009, -0/+6Or I could just pull out my credit card...
  • WolfHook, on 06/28/2009, -0/+5Agreed, people don't really see the bigger picture.
  • phlp, on 06/28/2009, -2/+7Yeah!!! Me to! The chip in your arm could be used as your drivers license also. A cop could have a scanner in his car. He/She could know who the driver and occupants are before stepping out of car. Or maybe could just issue you a ticket without pulling you over. He/She could know who the people are that are near by. If someone has a warrant he/she could easily find that person. The streets would be so much safer. While we're at it. Just setup scanners all over the country. The government could keep track of where everybody is at all times. Sounds good to me! Who really needs privacy anymore? I'm surprised people still like to have privacy. I can't think of anything that could go wrong.
  • St0rmz, on 06/28/2009, -0/+5So now when we max one phone credit card out, we buy another phone???
  • rapabalan, on 06/28/2009, -0/+5I read an article a while back that talked about how users in Japan could take a hi-res picture of their eye on their phone and use that picture to purchase items on their cell phone. Not entirely sure about that though.
    And when the hell are we going to get more characters per message? They can get 10,000 characters a message!
  • inactive, on 06/28/2009, -2/+7Anyone who has seen Zeitgeist should probably be a little nervous right now.
  • rapabalan, on 06/28/2009, -0/+5True, but my point is if they can support 10k characters, why are we stuck with 160 a message?
  • crapolatime, on 06/28/2009, -1/+6RFID = Hackable easily.

    Smart Chip in credit card = need contact and a pin to use.
  • notoneofus, on 06/28/2009, -2/+6I've lived in Tokyo for years, and lack of purchase integration is a very small part of it. It's annoying to me that I can't use my iPhone to pass through metro turnstiles like I could with my previous phone, but I rarely used the feature for anything else. Japan is still predominantly a cash society after all.

    Part of the reason is slower input of Japanese characters and a system that's just different from what most people are used to. Most sites in Japan are built to allow access by mobile phones, but the iPhone isn't considered a mobile phone. It's a handheld computer, and sites built for mobiles here don't work on it. Most of the so-called advanced features on J-phones are rarely used, though, and their menus and navigation systems are horrid. It's a question of what people are used to and how long it will take them to make a change.

    Softbank/Apple has sold a million iPhones in Japan (and the number is rising). It's not a failure, but it's certainly not taken over to the level is has in the US. Give it some time.
  • hfactor, on 06/28/2009, -0/+4Seriously?!
  • rancor01, on 06/28/2009, -0/+4Its good because when Im sitting in the drive-thru, I dont have to wait to get to the speaker to place my order, unlike grandma and grampa in front of me. I order with and pay for my food while sitting in the car, then drive to the window, place my cell-phone to their sensor, get my food and drive away.
  • Elsewhere42, on 06/28/2009, -0/+3I don't trust RFID because someone can steal the wireless information and start buying things using your account.
    I could prefer a PIN code challenge that I would type in on the cell phone. Still wireless, convenient and far more secure.
  • skinny01, on 06/28/2009, -0/+3It's like a tazer for thiefs! No need to get physical anymore trying to rob someone, just walk past them and zap!
  • qazws, on 06/28/2009, -0/+3JAPAN started this 5 to 6 six years ago, I'll use my cellphone on this beer machine.
  • milkmage, on 06/28/2009, -0/+3*****, you can pay for a cab ride with your phone, i think you can use vending machines too (you can buy drinks and smokes on damn near every corner in Tokyo).

    saw tons of movie posters and restaurants with bar codes. you take a pic of the code and download the menu/show times.

    pretty ***** slick.

    our netwrok is decades behind, they laugh at our 3g you know.. I noticed a lack fo WiFi hot spots over there.. i finally fugured out it's because their cell network is faster and way more robust. they don't need wifi (if they have it, it's for tourists)

  • japandave, on 06/28/2009, -0/+3Been living in Japan for years and even though I've got that chip (which slips right into a convenient slot near the battery) I rarely use it- and from what I've seen the Japanese themselves rarely use this option when paying for things even though this payment method is accepted virtually everywhere- I know the convenience of it and it certainly is easier at times to whip out the keitai (cell) than it is to fumble for my wallet...I just like cash better...
  • ethana2, on 06/28/2009, -2/+4Hmm, remotely find and temporarily deactivate your credit/debit card..
  • r0b1, on 06/28/2009, -0/+2Well yeah, money, but if anything the US carriers are savvy enough to monetize any and all services. Even if they can't do it themselves, there are vendors that can.

    So why not monetize these kinds of things? It looks like laziness more than anything else.
  • diggapleeeze, on 06/28/2009, -0/+2Yeah, really, why does one need this?
  • Mship, on 06/28/2009, -0/+2If you dont see how that can be useful then you probably never old food before. If someone was ordering for people at work, and they had a good cellphone you can write the 5 or 6 orders down walk to the store swap your phone and move on to the next customer.

    I think it would make the ordering processes much faster. Now the food making process would be the same speed, but "novelty tech" tend to lead to bigger improvements over time.
  • wastern, on 06/28/2009, -2/+4If I'm writing 10,000 characters its going in an email. I don't care if they support 10K in texts or not. Somethings of that lengths needs organization and formating to be meaningful
  • Rogor, on 06/28/2009, -0/+2Can anyone comment on the amount of fraud happening with this method in Japan?
  • wastern, on 06/28/2009, -0/+2This would make it easier for people to spend money faster. Not only that, buy you'd never see the money so you'd spend more without thinking about it.

    I don't even look at the price at most things when using my credit card, within reason, but when I walk up to a vending machine that I need to feed money into I'm checking pricing, counting change, and evaluating if its worth it. That all goes away when you can just use your phone and you're billed later
  • TwizzleNicole, on 08/04/2009, -0/+1There are loads of fabulous handsets around at the moment, I am a bit of a fan of the old Samsungs at the moment.
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