Across the UK, thousands of shops are preparing for the roll-out of new contactless technology, which could see us leaving our wallets at home as we use our mobile phones to pay. The expectation of many large retailers is that Near Field Communication (NFC) technology will take off this summer. One estimate suggests 40,000 businesses could be using it by the end of 2011.
However, like most new technologies, the success of NFC requires consumers to buy into the concept, and it remains to be seen whether the technology really has the public support it requires.
In terms of security there are certainly issues that need to be resolved within the industry, users are certainly going to have to enter a pin when you make a transaction. With all the concerns surrounding mobile technology security at the moment, customers are right to err on the side of caution.
Mobile phone operators and manufacturers, banks and retailers are all investing millions of pounds to make the technology a success. Orange and MasterCard are jointly launching a NFC-ready handset between April and June while competitors Visa and O2 are doing the same later this summer.
There are concerns about the affect this may have on smaller retailers as it is the bigger chains that are preparing for the changes now.
But what do you think? Are you excited by the freedom of NFC or are you concerned with prospective security breaches?
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