By TECH.BLORGE.com
There has been a lot of noise lately about near field communications (NFC) payments arriving on our smartphones, at least the iPhone, Android handsets, and blackberries. Will it and do we care?
It seems that all of the necessary parties are on line for making NFC payments using our smartphones. Phone makers say that they are ready, retailers are lining up to participate, Android and iOS4 are said to be ready, and the banks are ready to give it a try. And, whenever a new handset model comes out, NFC is one of the updates that is rumored to be included. Yet, so far, the deal has not yet happened. Is this technology, heralded as the replacement for plastic, destined to be the way we pay in retail stores? What happens to online payments; will they just give users the numbers and no cards? And regardless, is it a big deal?
It could be a big deal, according to a Fox News article, but will not be until people stop being nervous about it. The banks worry because it could let other businesses more easily horn in on their credit card arena. None of the operating system makers really know what the standards are for sure, because they have not been cast in stone. Retailers worry about security, and the handset manufacturers have to install yet another chip. Consumers, the “you and I” in all this, are (or should be) worried about the security angle, as should everyone else. Right now, all of us are hosed if we lose our wallets. After NFC, we would be just about as badly hosed if we lost our smartphones, or maybe worse.
Then who do you call to report your NFC phone has been stolen? Verizon? Citibank? Visa? Apple? These are complex times we’re living in, my friend, and they are moving faster every day. Next, your driver’s license and Social Security card will be in your cell phone, along with every other piece of information about each of us. From a privacy standpoint, all of that taken together represents a possible security problem of immense proportions. All of the involved parties, including each of us, needs to get involved in making sure that cell phone security is a whole lot better than current PC security before we buy fully into NFC.
There has been a lot of noise lately about near field communications (NFC) payments arriving on our smartphones, at least the iPhone, Android handsets, and blackberries. Will it and do we care?
It seems that all of the necessary parties are on line for making NFC payments using our smartphones. Phone makers say that they are ready, retailers are lining up to participate, Android and iOS4 are said to be ready, and the banks are ready to give it a try. And, whenever a new handset model comes out, NFC is one of the updates that is rumored to be included. Yet, so far, the deal has not yet happened. Is this technology, heralded as the replacement for plastic, destined to be the way we pay in retail stores? What happens to online payments; will they just give users the numbers and no cards? And regardless, is it a big deal?
It could be a big deal, according to a Fox News article, but will not be until people stop being nervous about it. The banks worry because it could let other businesses more easily horn in on their credit card arena. None of the operating system makers really know what the standards are for sure, because they have not been cast in stone. Retailers worry about security, and the handset manufacturers have to install yet another chip. Consumers, the “you and I” in all this, are (or should be) worried about the security angle, as should everyone else. Right now, all of us are hosed if we lose our wallets. After NFC, we would be just about as badly hosed if we lost our smartphones, or maybe worse.
Then who do you call to report your NFC phone has been stolen? Verizon? Citibank? Visa? Apple? These are complex times we’re living in, my friend, and they are moving faster every day. Next, your driver’s license and Social Security card will be in your cell phone, along with every other piece of information about each of us. From a privacy standpoint, all of that taken together represents a possible security problem of immense proportions. All of the involved parties, including each of us, needs to get involved in making sure that cell phone security is a whole lot better than current PC security before we buy fully into NFC.
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