Mobile Payment Apps Put Wallets In Phones, Not Pockets
You already keep your photos in your phone, why not your credit cards and checkbook too?
The use of smartphones as e-wallets has caught on elsewhere; now it’s spreading in America.
The new Google Wallet app lets shoppers who own Android smartphones pay at the counter with a mere wave at the cash register and without a pocketful of change in return.
The app uses near-field communication technology to beam customers’ payment info from newer-model phones to a cashier reader. And as Bloomberg technology columnist Rich Jaroslovsky tells NPR’s Ari Shapiro, it’s a sign that we’re likely to see more people waving their phones around at the checkout counter.
Google describes the Wallet app as being part of “the next big shift” in currency, which has evolved from metal coins to paper bills and credit cards.
“The money comes from a couple of different sources, depending on how you’ve got it set up,” Jaroslovsky says. “You enter your credit card information into the app, and it’s stored securely on a chip inside the phone. But there’s also the option of putting a gift card on it.”
In addition to not having to visit an ATM or use a credit card to make purchases, Wallet users get access to special discounts and deals at retailers.