Is Pay-By-Cell Phone Verging On Reality?

Bloomberg reports that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have teamed up to make pay-by-cell phone a reality. Instead of swiping credit cards, consumers would simply wave their phone in front of a wireless reader to pay for their purchase. Will this revolutionize the way we pay for our everyday purchases?

In short, not really. RFID and mobile payment is the next logical step for smartphones (and in fact is already in service in some countries), but it isn’t going to generate the type of competition for credit card companies that the CNN article implies.

As stated in the article, efforts have been made by both MasterCard and Visa to introduce RFID technology to their customers. Keychains and stickers that can be applied to the back of a cell phone are two of the top attempts. The efforts have not really caught on, although an integrated RFID chip does present some cool benefits to the consumer. Security such as passwords and remote disabling of the chip are a big plus. As would be the ability to add multiple accounts to each device. If phones are sold with this technology already loaded, the usage would likely pick up drastically.

But if you are a retailer looking for a relief from the credit card fees, don’t get too excited yet. I don’t think the carriers are planning on getting into the banking business. Instead, I would expect them to partner with an existing processing company - and yes, that means the fees are still there. How would the carriers make their money? Well form the data plans off course - the technology likely wouldn’t be available on phones that don’t require a plan. IMHO this is a win-win-win for the processor, carrier and consumer, but it leaves the retailer holding the short stick once again.