I read a post over on CrunchGear quite a while back about SIM cards and how they now include NFC (Near Field Communication) and how that would allow you to start paying for things with your cellphone. The problem with this, and any technologies like it, is of course that we need to get mass adoption of the technology for it to really work. I for one would love to see this happen. Why should I have to carry around multiple credit / debits cards when I’m already carrying around my cell phone which has the capability to store and transmit the required data from ALL of these cards combined? I’m not completely sure on how things would be implemented, but I assume you’d add some security to the process in the way of requiring a PIN or perhaps even a biometric (fingerprint) reader – afterall, with all these touch screen products like the iPhone coming out, that shouldn’t be too hard to implement right?
Update: Dave pointed out to me that touch screen and scanner (for fingerprint reading) are two different things. Fair enough Dave. He also suggested that it would be a good idea for the fingerprint reader to be at the store instead of on the device – great idea. Alternatively – most phones have a camera on them now don’t they? Couldn’t that be used somehow? :)