Mobile Phone Wallets

Given that it has already been available in Japan for a while now, it was inevitable that the idea of a mobile phone based e-wallet would be launched over here.

I already have a debit card with a RfID chip embedded in it and am not particularly happy about that. I have eschewed the facility to use the contactless method of payment and stuck with using my PIN for every purchase. As I have not enabled the contactless process on the card, then it remains dormant and should anyone steal it, it is that little bit more secure.

I am most certainly not going to go a step further then, and have my mobile phone contain my bank details. Okay, so the RfID card system system only applies to transactions below £15 and these are limited before you have to use the PIN in order to verify that it is being legitimately used –  and I suspect that the same will apply to mobiles which have a similar transaction value limit imposed, but even so, all those small purchases used fraudulently will add up and someone has to pay.

I am by no means a luddite –  I embrace technology where it makes my life easier, but neither do I embrace it for its own sake. To lose one’s phone is inconvenient and may cost a small fortune if the thief uses it for roaming. To also lose one’s wallet at the same time strikes me as straying into carelessness.

That old adage about putting one’s eggs into a single basket didn’t stop being valid just because it is a cliché.

Giles Ubaghs, an analyst with Datamonitor, thinks take-up may be sluggish.

“It is an important first step but I think there could be a lack of incentive. Early adopters may like it for the novelty value but the majority just won’t see the point,” he said.

I think he’s right. I buy a mobile phone because I want to make phone calls, nothing else.