Three major wireless service providers are working with the city of Salt Lake City, Utah, to install a wireless payment network in that city. Payments are wired through the Isis system, a joint venture of three of the nations’ leading cellular service providers, and amounts deducted from the right debit or credit account. Article source – Wireless payment network to debut in Salt Lake City by MoneyBlogNewz.
Cell phone charge card technology takes another step forward
Near field communication, NFC, technology was put on iPhones months ago as a cellular payment system that works. A computer chip is installed in an iPhone that can be picked up by a reader system. The bank account or credit card account linked to the chip’s owner is then charged by merchants. The deduction is made when somebody waves their iPhone. Of course, only phones with Near Field Communication chips will work. This is a large deal. It is advanced technology for the financial industry. There is internet access on most phones already. Smartphones have been used for a while to do bank transfers, to balance checkbooks or to get personal loans on the Internet.
System in Salt Lake to begin with
The NFC system could be started in one place. NPR reports this place to be Salt Lake City. People can start paying for the public transportation system with NFC phone readers. They will be put in the whole system. The city is beginning to make a partnership with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless because of Isis. That is the NFC system the carriers are using right now. The carriers will need phones other than the iPhone that are NFC equipped. Sprint, according to BusinessWeek, is still creating its own Near Field Communication technology.
Technology not good
NFC technology is not spread enough to be put everywhere as Isis would hope. The ad campaign claims the technology will make Salt Lake the “place where you are able to leave your wallet at home.”. Buying a smartphone is going to cost less and less as time goes on. Also, more cellular systems for payments are being accepted each day.
Articles cited
NPR
npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=135149101
Business Week
businessweek.com/news/2011-04-04/at-t-verizon-wireless-to-open-venture-to-all-payment-networks.html
Pay With This
paywithisis.com/
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