ABI Research Sees Crucial Contactless Payment Pieces Falling into Place

Payment processing companies, credit card issuers, banks, retailers and the all-consuming public will soon begin experiencing a payment paradigm shift as the final pieces fall into place for secure "contactless payments."

The recent joint announcement by electronics giant Philips and payment transaction software creator ViVOtech, of a partnership marrying Philips' near-field communications (NFC) technologies with ViVOtech's readers and processing software, takes contactless payment one big step closer to reality. Armed with an NFC-equipped mobile phone (or some other device, but all bets are on the phone as top choice), a consumer at a checkout or cashier need only wave it near a "reader" to have a credit transaction automatically initiated and carried out.

Via Developing RFID-Enabled Phones