April 6,2009
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News: This Credit Card is No Phony.
Yep, the Real Phone Card really is a real phone…and a real credit card, too. Only 0.58mm thick (that's only 0.2284 inches) and weighing in at only 1 1/3 oz, it's probably the world's lightest commercial phone. Using R.F.I.D (radio frequency identification) technology, the card/phone can make credit card purchases by simply waving it over a special credit card terminal.
Introduced by Visa, the service is currently available in Malaysia but is soon to be deployed in technologically-developed countries like Japan. Based on a global phone standard, the phone has a chip that employs "near field communications". The device can even go on-line. In order to make a credit card transaction all you have to do is wave the card/phone within 2 inches of the terminal. More primitive technologies already exist in the US. Almost like a PDA, this device is configurable and offers multiple levels of security. You can key in your own PINs as often as you like but, a thief would have to know your even more secure password to get to the credit card functions. Your bank can even disable the device remotely at your request.
Ultimately, the card/phone is evolving as a ‘card file' which will not only support multiple credit cards but, debit and private-label cards as well. As the American culture catches up with countries like Malaysia and Japan, the market here could go wild with it.
The technology has all kinds of possibilities. For example, credit cards in the US currently only use one-way technology. The card is ‘swiped' and no information comes back to the card. This device will even have the capability for a lending institution to sent text confirmations and other kinds of correspondence back to the cell phone concerning credit card transactions. If will also have ‘Bluetooth' capabilities, make airline and hotel reservation and accommodate e-mail besides.