Where is my Wallet ?

Man to woman: Will you be my Valentine?
Woman back to man: Of course, if you open your wallet on time.

Another interesting scenario goes like this: In the morning rush hour when the pater familias (I am sorry when the father of the family, my apologies again when the husband) is about to leave for work - “Darling where is my Wallet? I leave that on the sofa last night and you that it is been missing since then.” You know what, the conversation I mentioned in the beginning of the blog and this question about the Wallet is about to get change soon and who knows for good.

NFC or Near Field Communication has making rounds in the tech media and everyone who knows NFC well is swearing that this technology has the capability to make our wallets disappear. Though not a new technology it is in the news and on the internet since early 2004. Technology innovators are waiting for the right time to make NFC widely available for the public and I guess with the dawn of the smart phone industry and the kind of traffic it is capable of handling this is the right moment to introduce NFC to the masses and take the technology mainstream. NFC is another wireless form of technology which responds to the RFID embedded in our credit cards. As the name (Near Field Communication) suggests this technology is capable of exchanging both data and money wirelessly from devices which is near its field by up to 4 inches. On a personal basis I have experienced the technology myself when the NFC device was introduced in the nearby convenience store. The credit card is having the RFID chip and there is a NFC device connected on top of the normal card reader. There is no need to swipe your card in the device, just tap it over the NFC device and the transaction can be completed. In the same week the soda machine in my office got NFC enabled.

Another scenario which can be more interesting is the marriage of NFC and the smart phones. Most of the smart phones these days are NFC enabled including the one which comes with Android. Nokia was among the very first one to introduce NFC standards in their phones. Apple is planning to introduce NFC in their next versions of iPad, iPhone. Though nothing has been confirmed yet, but that’s what the speculation is. Apple hired Benjamin Vigier an NFC veteran and guru last year and since then there has been deluge articles making rounds over the internet. If the iPhone is equipped with the NFC compatible technology then it will act as your credit card. The credit card information will somehow be stored in the phone and you just need to wave the phone near the NFC reader and your done. Pretty cool huh!!!

More and more smart phones apps are making financial transactions hassle free. Starbucks have introduced an app where you just need to put in your strackbucks card number in your iPhone and your iPhone will then act as your Starbucks card. Japan along with some European and Asian countries are pretty aggressive in the implementation of NFC enabled devices and phones and hopefully the technology will become ubiquitous here in the US and all over the world soon. I know many of us has seen or read about this already but it is worth mentioning here. The scenario goes like this soon we will be able to wave our iPhone in front of the RFID embedded movie poster and will get the choice of the theatres playing that movie nearby. Purchase the tickets at the same time using our phone and skip long ticket queues. Our smart phones are on the way to become our wallets, at least this is what the market and the tech gurus are betting on.

There is one more device which sounds interesting as far as wireless financial transactions are considered. The name of this device is Square. Jack Dorsey the founder of twitter is the master mind behind this amazing technology. Square is nothing but a square shape device which can be inserted into the audio jack of the smart phone and is readily available to handle the credit card transactions on the fly. Square will act as the credit card reader and has the capability of charging the credit card wirelessly. Just put the credit card near the Square device, sign on the smart phone and you are done with your purchase. Most of the small businesses and people on the go like baby sitters are now making use of Square very effectively. The technology is pretty new but it got the potential to be revolutionary. Many of the tech industry investors and pioneers are showing interests in the development and production of Square. Initial funding in the project (around $10 million dollars) came from Vinod Khosla the man who invested in Sun Microsystems in early days, Google’s Marissa Mayer and angel investor Ron Conway. Time magazine has included Square in the 50 best inventions of 2010. Square seems attractive as it does not demand monthly fee or require a sign up contract. Square charges vendor 2.75% plus 15 cents per transaction. So next time the downtown cotton candy street vendor told you “only cash no credit cards” just point him in the direction of Square.

Well it is all about the change. Sooner or later these technologies will become the part of our life. What we have to understand is as the technology is becoming smarter day by day so are the people who can take due advantage of this. The ever increasing graph of cyber theft and crime is not hidden from any of us and we also know that it cannot be suppressed that easily. Though technologies like NFC and Square are trying to make our wallet disappear they are also opening the portal for cyber criminals to come near our personal and uncompromisable life, our precious belongings and cherished memories. If tomorrow our phones become our wallet we just cannot have the excuse of losing them. Not in these times or ever.