There are a number of reasons and ways to use a cell phone to make payments online or at a brick an mortar store. I wrote an article on this topic How You Can Use A Mobile Phone to Pay For Stuff . By chance I spoke to two people who knew a good deal about this and then I did a little research on my own. I am not a die hard techie but some of these technologies for paying for goods with a cell phone make sense to me.
Here Are Some Options For Payment by Cell Phone Using Technology Application Messaging , etc
1. Applications for storing gift cards right on your cell phone. Instead of remembering to bring a prepaid card along with you to a certain store, you can put it on your phone until you need it. An application has to already exist specific for the store you have the gift card in order to work. Basically the retail clerk would type in a code or scan right off of your app.
2. Short Message Service (ie text messaging). Short Message Service can be used to send money to either a person or a company (in store or not). You key in the phone number of the business or person and money is sent from say your savings or checking account or off some prepaid card. Works like a text message, except you are sending loot instead of verbiage.
3. Scanning Barcodes. I think this is my favorite concept that I’ve heard about for years but never saw anyone do it. Walk up to an item in the store, use a mobile app to scan the barcode, then leave the store without needing the cashier. The app also lets you compare prices and availability at other stores as well.
4. NFC Technologies. Near field communication or NFC basically lets you use your phone as a credit card. You know those devices where you swipe your card at checkout lines? You’d do something similar with your cell phone on a similar device. Swipe / scan the mobile phone and it would be recognized as your credit card.
The above technologies also have the potential to store gift cards and coupons, remember those annoying store ‘membership’ cards so you won’t need to carry them around, and track sale / discount prices.
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Some of you might be completely familiar with these already. If you are, don’t be bashful and let me know what is working for you and what you don’t like. All of this (as of 2012) is fairly new but very interesting to me.
Am I missing anything? Getting something wrong? Have any thoughts? Feel free to comment.
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