Cell Phones May Soon Replace Wallets
February 19, 2003
Don't leave home without it. This well-worn advertizing slogan
now applies more to a cell phone than a credit card. As cellular
phones keep adding features, they could very possibly replace wallets
in the not-too-distant future.
From next month through August, 2,000 monitors will be shopping
using their cell phones in place of a credit card. Under KDDI's
Kei-Credit project, contest winners in the Kanto, Chubu and Kansai
areas will test au's third-generation-mobile-phone CDMA 2000 1x
installed with an IC card.
Earlier cell phone models have made online melodies and images
popular by collecting fees as part of the regular monthly phone
bill. Or they have made wide-ranging online shopping possible by
accepting a customer's credit card number, which is similar to using
a PC.
However, CDMA 2000 1x introduces an entirely new concept in mobile
phone shopping. The phone's "UIM Card" carries credit applications
for Toyota Finance and UC cards to be used in shopping at actual
stores. JCB, Toyota Finance, Sumitomo Mitsui VISA and UC, on the
other hand, accept charges for online shopping.
Nearly 30 e-stores, including Toyota's GAZOO.com and LYCOS Store,
have joined the project, which offers 1.9 million food, books, CDs
and bric-a-brac items. About 400 real stores, including the Printemps
Ginza department store, VenusFort shopping mall and Nihon-kai Shoya
Shinbashi-branch restaurant, are also participating.
Printemps Ginza reportedly plans to install designated infrared
ray ports in the cash registers in all seven of the store's restaurants,
and provide at least one additional register on each floor.
KDDI leases the phone and the UIM card to the monitors, and Toyota
Finance and UC Card lease the infrared adapter at no charge.
How do you shop with your phone at a "bricks 'n' mortar" store?
First you must install the infrared adapter and the fingertip-sized
UIM Card in the phone. The card has the cardholder's name, card
number, expiration date and the pre-registered access code.
Starting the designated application and entering the access code
displays the card information. The phone's infrared adapter transmits
the information to the cashier terminal in 2-3 seconds, then store
clerk enters the product price and receives verification from the
credit card company.
The process is similar to using a conventional credit card, although
reading the card information on the phone takes longer. However,
a UC Card spokesman told the Yomiuri Shimbun that carrying multiple
credit applications and membership cards would make the cellophane
settlement more convenient in the future.
In addition, the access code is expected prevent credit card fraud
in the event the phone is stolen.
Using a different approach, NTT DoCoMo and Sony-affiliated, e-money
management company BitWallet are preparing to load Edy, BitWallet's
e-money, onto DoCoMo's cell phone. Edy is pre-paid digital money
on a IC card, and is currently used at the am/pm convenience store
chain and other stores. Loading the e-money with an IC chip alone
will be a major step forward, although implementation time is still
up in the air.
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