Every day, you use money and bank cards to pay your daily expenses. But sometimes, you don't have enough cash or you can't find your card back. Two American companies (Venmo and Xipwire) have found a solution for this problem. They made it possible to pay with your cell phone.
How does it work? It isn't difficult. First, you have to register your bank account so Venmo can make a Venmo account. When you go to a shop, you send the amount of payment and also the telephone number of the vendor to Venmo. They send an e-mail to the vendor and he has to accept it before Venmo sends the money.
Xipwire is almost the same. You only have to send a code to the company and they will send a message to the vendor. After this, you have to dial your secret pin code and you've paid for the product. With Xipwire, you also can send money to your friends.
At the moment, both products are free of charge. Next year, you have to pay for a transaction when you're a member of Xipwire.
I believe this is something very special. There was a moment when they tried to use this kind of payment in Belgium. This didn't work because it was too difficult. I would use it if it would come to Belgium.
Conclusion: This is something new. If it works, it will be a huge success. If it won't, it will be another useless attempt to use the cell phone as a mean of payment. We will see what the future brings.
Written by Yorick Stroobant
My source: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/consumer&id=7410319
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Interesting subject, Yorick!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenPay with your cell phone is a good solution in case of emergency. But I don’t think that the cell will replace the bankcards or cash. Personally I think that there are already enough payment options. If I use cash, cell phone, credit cards and bankcards to pay at the same time, then I will lose control over my budget.