Nikki Baird

Smartphones Look to Replace Plastic as Payment

August 3, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Okay, so the gas-powered car killed the horse and buggy as a mode of transportation (excluding the Amish). Video apparently killed the radio star. So what's next to go? According to a Bloomberg report, plastic credit and debit cards may be doomed by smartphones. Will smartphones replace plastic credit and debit cards in the U.S.?      [more...]

We are more than 50% of the way there, in my opinion. PayPal mobile can be accepted in some locations. I've paid for coffee using a mobile Starbucks card. While credit card companies and phone companies duke it out over who's going to try to take the biggest slice of the transaction, merchant service providers and retailers are moving on, using prepaid cards and gift cards as a way to break the logjam.

And new mobile payment providers seem to pop up every day. I'm not sure that any of them will last once the big guys finally work it out and jump in, but right now it's the wild, wild west out there - and that's definitely good for the industry.

My phone is already at least as important to me as my car keys, these days. Adding payment capabilities will only make it more so--and I look forward to it.