Partner Article

The future of payments

It’s very clear that we’re living in a world dominated by gadgets and technology. Compare the modern day to just 10 years ago: most of us are now glued to a smart phone (I have regular arguments with my partner about this) and a survey has shown that we spend an average of £1,083 a year each on online shopping. Technology has become an important part of normal everyday life – it automates tasks and is designed to make our lives easier and help us avoid stress.

We’ve actually seen a similar pattern emerging in the way we make payments and purchases. Cheques are gradually being phased out (many shops don’t even accept them anymore) in favour of cash or electronic payments. We can shop online with our debit cards or pay with PayPal, organise our finances online and it’s developing even further.

Last year Barclays Bank launched a mobile payment service called Pingit which allows users to send and receive money with only a mobile phone number. It links the bank account of the user to a phone number in their contacts book. Users simply call the recipient’s number via the Pingit app, type in an amount up to £300 and press send.

Millions of people now also use contactless payment systems which allow debit and credit card users to pay for transactions by touching their card to a contactless payment reader. That’s it! No pin number, no signature, just scan your card over a reader at the till. From this came the PayTag gadget which allows customers to stick a tag to their mobile phone and turn it into another contactless payment tool. Meanwhile, customers of NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland can use the GetCash system to withdraw cash without a debit or credit card. Fancy access to some of these cool payment services? Compare different credit cards and their benefits at Compare The Market.

So what’s next? Will we be able to pay using a chip under our skin or by scanning our eyeballs? Well actually, in a word, yes. Quite possibly.

There have been trials where people have had RFID chips (which are normally used in pets for identification purposes) inserted under the skin of humans. RFID chips work by listening for a radio frequency signal and then emitting a unique 64-digit ID number. Ran as part of a demonstration at a hacker conference in Washington last year, the head of the “implantation station” uses his own chip to get into his home, start his motorbike and open a personal safe.

Applied Digital Solutions, a company which provides digital recording solutions for the US federal and state government has developed a “VeriPay” RFID technology and is looking for partners in financial services firms. The aim is for customers to be implanted with RFID chips under their skin to help them be identified when using a cash machine or instead of a credit card. One Barcelona nightclub signed up and chips their customers so they can enter a VIP section and pay for drinks and food throughout the evening via the RFID chips in their arms.

It’s a huge advancement in payment technology which seems rather alien today but will probably soon become as common as checking our Facebook accounts on our smartphones. After all, it meets a purpose: to make tasks quicker, easier and stress-free. Although come to think of it, if we currently lose our bank cards, we just need to phone the back to cancel them. If someone finds out your RFID number, you need to phone a surgeon. Pronto.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amy Rutter .