Pay Phones

Oh, I don't know...

At the Demo '06 conference here on Wednesday, two companies presented services that they positioned as ways to handle secure payments while on the go without physical credit cards, cash or checks.

The first, Portland, Ore.-based PayWi, demonstrated how its service can let people pay for just about anything with their mobile phones.

The idea, explained PayWi CEO Dave Barram, is that consumers would sign up online, provide their personal and payment information, and then be able to use their account from anywhere, at any time, to settle a bill.
Another company presenting here, Pay By Touch also asserts that physical credit cards are obsolete.

Its service, which it said is deployed at two of the five largest American grocery chains, lets consumers pay for purchases by simply touching a finger scanner and entering a PIN.

Like with PayWi, the idea is that people sign up ahead of time and provide the necessary personal and financial information.

Then, they use a finger scanner at home or work to submit their fingerprint to the system.

I suspect that pay-by-cellphone (or something like it) will be the way things go. As for Pay By Touch--can I choose which finger to use?