AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have banded together in creating ISIS, a mobile payment system that will eventually allow consumers to toss their wallet altogether. Details haven't surfaced much yet but the three companies have a stated goal of replacing "cash, credit and debit cards, reward cards, coupons, tickets, and transit passes" (press release). At the moment, I can't imagine not carrying around a wallet at all. I can definitely see a world where cash doesn't exist and I can even see mobile transactions happening in the near future but just like checks were phased out slowly and surely, I believe wallets, debit, and credit cards will hang in there until there really is no need for them.
The main idea behind this near-field communication system is convenience: offering a world to consumers in which they really only need their phone and shopping lines can all but disappear. Their initial focus is to use mobile phones to make point-of-sale purchases but who knows where they can go with this new software they are developing. The product is said to be released in the next 18 months. Imagine - in 18 months, none of us might have wallets or purses or coupons anymore at all.
LIke I said, everyone is a little hazy on the details but there are a few things I do know. NFC (near-field communication) uses "short-range, high frequency wireless technology to enable the encrypted exchange of information between devices at a short distance" (press release). Essentially, shoppers can go into a store and once they say they want to purchase something, their mobile device will wirelessly activate the transaction in much less time than it would take to wait in line and pay with cash or a card. It constantly surprises me how many things we now depend on for our mobile devices and this list is only increasing.
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