In-store Payments with Your Mobile Phone - A Game Changer

No need for credit cards or cash, just your phone.  Bank of America will begin testing with Visa, allowing the use of smartphones to make in-store payments.  The program will start in September according to a report from Reuters, and run through the end of the year in the New York area.


Customers wave their phones near the point-of-sale devices and their bank account data is collected and purchases completed. 


According to the story on Reuters, "Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Discover Financial Services are working on forming a joint venture aiimed at offering payments through mobile services, people familiar with the matter told Reuters."


It will be interesting to see how this changes the playing field for companies like Square, as reported in the LA Times, and competitor VeriFone, which requires an attachment on a retailer's"iPhone device to accept payments from credit cards. 

Screenshot of VeriFone's App.

This opens up a whole new world for mobile in retail.  As device manufacturers start to embed Near Field Communication (NFC) devices in phones that allow this to take place, imagine the possibilities of integrating this with mobile applications providing in-store shopping assistance.


It's a utility function that's been lacking from many of the coupon and offer apps on the market today.  


By allowing a shopper's transaction to be "complete" at point-of-sale will explode the use of mobile shopping assistance within retail.  The timing is ripe for a whole new shopping environment---aisle411 is excited to be launching an exciting digital shopper application at the early stages of the explosive growth expected in the mobile in retail environment.