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Bickering Blocks US Mobile Phone Payments
theodp writes "Imagine a technology that lets you pay for products just by waving your cellphone over a reader. You wouldn't have to if you lived in Japan, where people have been using it for the last five years to pay for everything from train tickets to groceries to candy in vending machines. While nearly everyone who's tried it has liked this form of payment, consumers in the United States won't be able to wave-and-pay anytime soon: The companies that must work together to give the technology to the masses can't agree on how to split the resulting revenue."
And yet I've yet to see one in use in Japan. Granted I only stay a month there every year, but cash is king in Japan and Asia in general. I rarely see credit cards being used (although it has become a bit more common over the past 15 years).
Except that you have to file an IRS form to carry any amount of cash over $10k.
Also when carrying even that much cash it really sucks to get mugged as you simply won't be getting that money back as opposed to carrying an insured debit or credit card.
For large purchases there's no reason wire transfers don't work which is how most people conduct large transactions these days anyways. Between wire and checks you've got what you need for large purchases so its all about the smaller purchases. Should you be able to buy a TV with your cell phone? I wouldn't trust the current phone companies to add up the bill reliably as they can even bill reliably for what they currently provide. That just means it's more of a hassle instead of less when compared to a credit card that is.