Forget the plastic, MasterCard wants you to pay with whatever gadget you're wearing

[dkpope]

If pulling the credit card out of your wallet is beginning to feel like too much of a hassle, MasterCard has your back. The credit card company is making efforts to turn each new gadget into a credit card capable of making payments. The Verge reports that MasterCard is launching a new program that will help tech companies enable things like smart jewelry, car keys, fitness trackers and more to make payments.

Most new smartphones already have this capability with programs such as Apple Pay or Android Pay. MasterCard’s plans have a wider scope — they want you to be able to forget the physical card and pay with whatever you’re already wearing.

To start, MasterCard has partnered with a few companies and they already have prototypes ready. There is GM’s key fob, Ringly’s smart ring, and Nymi’s smart wristband. And they all come with MasterCard’s wireless payment technology ready to go.

If you’re interested, it might be a good idea to get a Capital One MasterCard because they are the only ones that will be supported on these devices, at least at first. If the program is successful MasterCard will assuredly open it up to others. The first credit card replacement products will arrive in the U.S. next year, and your only decision is whether you'll keep the actual credit card in your wallet or leave it at home once you have a wristband or key fob that will do its job.

Image Credit: Valeri Potapova / Shutterstock.com

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https://www.techspot.com/news/62578-forget-plastic-mastercard-wants-you-pay-whatever-gadget.html

 

[Laf904]

Here in Canada, NFC payments with your smartphone is only supported by a small number of banks/carriers. A lot of work is needed here to extend the support and availability.

 

[Hexic]

Yes... create more vulnerable access points for me to steal your information... forget your keys somewhere? You've just paid for my round of beers at the pub.

Excellent.

 

[tonylukac]

I saw someone pay with their phone at mcdonalds the other day. The scanners look like black, square cell phones. We learned nfc programming in that university of illinois urbana free android class, so I'm hip.

 

[wiyosaya]

Yes... create more vulnerable access points for me to steal your information... forget your keys somewhere? You've just paid for my round of beers at the pub.

Excellent.

Yes, I have to agree with your assessment. I cannot help but think that it is a "cost saving" measure by Master Card so that they can make more money which, to me, makes this even more frustrating. But, we have companies like this jumping on the latest fad.

I also think that even in the US, there are few places that accept payment in this form. As well, not everyone has a smart phone, smart watch, or other "smart device."

One can only hope that this goes as far as the researchers that will eventually research the security of the "option" and tell everyone what everyone already knows...it is far less secure than a real credit card.

 

[Hexic]

I saw someone pay with their phone at mcdonalds the other day. The scanners look like black, square cell phones. We learned nfc programming in that university of illinois urbana free android class, so I'm hip.

I'm currently at Purdue University - and there are two organizations within the Computer Science department alone that specialize in the utilization of NetPen and network/device vulnerability tactics. It's very easy to snatch someone's info OTA, especially with how careless the general populace is these days with NFC, open WiFi networks, etc.

 

[tonylukac]

I'm currently at Purdue University - and there are two organizations within the Computer Science department alone that specialize in the utilization of NetPen and network/device vulnerability tactics. It's very easy to snatch someone's info OTA, especially with how careless the general populace is these days with NFC, open WiFi networks, etc.

My dental student at midwestern university dental school working on my teeth went to purdue. I like them because they allowed me to download various flavors of linux from their servers. I better not tell anyone else I know how to program (hack) ntc. I don't even have a capable device.