British telecom giant Vodafone now allows its customers to pay for taxi rides by text message, a service that builds on the increasing popularity of new text-and-go payment methods.
In the U.K., Vodafone competitor Orange expects to begin selling its first tap-and-go phone this summer. The telecom teamed up with the credit card firm Barclaycard to equip new smartphones with a sophisticated fingerprint reader to authenticate its owner to make purchases.
"It is a cultural shift as important as the launches of the credit card and cash machines," said Gerry McQuade, chief development officer at Everything Everywhere, the parent company of Orange.
Similar tap and text-and-go methods are becoming more prominent U.S. retail outlets as well. Google, for example, recently extended its mobile payment trials to four more U.S. cities, aside from New York and San Francisco.
Shoppers in Las Vegas, Madison, Charlotte and Austin can use their Google smartphones to make payments at selected retail locations. The trial is part of the company's plan to create NFC-powered mobile payment systems in conjunction with major credit card companies.
A broader pay-by-phone system is in the early stages in the U.S., where wireless carriers recently announced they are working with credit card companies on a new payment network.
As wireless communication payments continue to garner more interest, sightings of the now familiar plastic credit cards will become less likely at check-out counters.
The players will continue the race to dominate the mobile-payment market, as consumers express increasing interest in what could be a lucrative $1.13 trillion dollar market.
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