One espresso. Would you like to pay for that with your phone?

As the world heads faster and faster towards a cashless society, it seems that more and more your mobile phone will become one of your most important possessions. Once a novel invention, many places, paying via your mobile is now commonplace. Convenience is king, for both customers and outlets.

The technology is known as Near Field Communication (NFC). It works by sending information securely over short distances. Customers will walk up to the terminal and simply put their mobiles by the payment terminal. It is supposed to be just as secure as if you were paying with your credit card, meaning that hackers are having a (near) field day. A payment app has to be installed on your mobile phone, as the financial information has to be sent and confirmed by both seller and buyer.

The now common technology was only 5 years ago exciting. Jon Fredrik Baksaas, the President and CEO of Telenor in 2011, said “The Oslo test … will be an important milestone towards our use of mobile phones as wallets. We are certain that contact-less payment via mobile will become extremely widespread, because we all take our mobiles everywhere we go, and because it’s a secure and easy way to pay.”

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/01/idUS52445+01-Jul-2011+HUG20110701