Do You Accept Cellphone Payments?

beuges writes "In one of South Korea's latest efforts to establish itself as a technology trendsetter, the country's three telecom giants, major credit card companies and several banks have been working for a year to enable Koreans to pay for everything from groceries to petrol by cellphone."

Comments

Already accepted practice in norway

[evil_one666]

Mobile phones (via SMS) are already an accepted way of paying for ski-passes to cinema tickets here in Norway

Perhaps the real story here is how far behind the US is in the widespread use of mobile phone technology...

car keys/house keys should be next

[Schlemphfer]

Many people these days are stuck carrying around three things when they go out: a phone to communicate, a wallet to pay for stuff, and a set of keys for car and house. This is silly.

There's no reason why an infrared or bluetooth port on a cellphone couldn't be made to unlock doors and start ignitions. Think how great would it be to only need one device to communicate, start your car, and pay for whatever you need when you go out.

Up until now, the cell phone has added yet another thing to take with you and keep track of when you go out. Instead, with a bit of innovation using already-existing technologies, it could easily be the only thing you need to bring. I'd be more than happy to skip the camera/color screen/instant messaging features for my next phone -- what I really want is for my cellphone get rid of my keys and wallet.