By Visa announced several features of their mobile initiative that will bring new services to mobile phones and Android devices will be some of the first to adopt these new capabilities. Based on their press release, it seems that a Visa Application will be available on the Android market and offer some pretty basic features:
receive notifications to their mobile devices about transaction activity on their accounts; obtain offers from a wide array of merchants; and use the built-in location-based technology developed by Google to quickly map nearby merchants where they can redeem Visa offers and locate ATMs that accept Visa.
These initial services will be available only to Chase Visa cardholders but what is the most exciting is what is to come: making mobile payments with your Android enabled phone and automatic fraud protection services that such a system provides.
Before long, Visa claims you will easily be able to make purchases at retail locations worldwide simply by using your mobile phone. Not only that, but every time a purchase/charge is made on your Visa account you will receive an almost instantaneous mobile alert, making it easy to tell when a fraudulent charge is made on your account.
And so the mobile convergence continues… but this isn’t an Android specific development. Within a year, I would expect that many or most phones will make mobile payments through your credit card a possibility. While many are reporting the Visa announcement in association with Android, the fact that they made the same announcement in conjunction with Nokia is slipping through the cracks.
[Via ITWire]
EFF-ing amazing!
I use Chase, and currently receive a SMS when I use my debit card.
It would be awesome to USE my phone to PAY for things.
Ah. Modern technology.
Gotta love it (until it breaks … cough Twitter!).