For many people, smart phones are almost as indispensable as wallets. And soon, your smart phone could replace your wallet. A collection of the biggest wireless carriers, handset makers and software developers are putting their weight behind a technology called near-field communication.
That standard will allow your cell phone to make payments at a cash register, scan computer chips embedded in ads and posters for discounts and product info, and eventually incorporate driver’s licenses and other forms of ID.
“This isn’t just about payment,” said Jaymee Johnson, director of strategic development at T-Mobile USA Inc. “It’s fundamentally focused on transforming the ways customers shop, save and pay.”
T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. recently launched a joint venture called Isis to standardize and promote near-field communication, or NFC, technology and applications.
The technology enables a variety of new applications. For example, a retailer could embed a paper-thin NFC chip in the price tags on its shelves. When you wave your NFC-enabled phone over the tag for, say, a digital camera, it will direct the Web browser on your phone to a site with more info about that camera.
The tag could also wirelessly transfer a coupon for that camera to your phone. So you pick up the camera and take it to the register to pay. No need to dig out your credit card or cash.
Just swipe your phone, which also contains all your credit card info, over the NFC-enabled register, which recognizes the coupon, applies the discount, and debits your bank account.
Voila, the digital wallet.
Or tap on a tagged movie poster to bring up the YouTube trailer to the film.
Or imagine any of the other hundreds of possibilities once individual app developers start tinkering with the software and writing programs for the phones and chips.
NFC tags could be easily, inexpensively and invisibly embedded in…