Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Another Service of a Cellphone, Payment
In the beginning, the purpose of the using a Cellphone was for the freedom to communicate. People wanted to talk to the other people wherever they are.
According to the fast growing, digital technology, the cellphone has been added with more efficient functions than we ever had before. For example, camera, games, Internet and the GPS are the most popular functions in the cellphone.
We usually use a credit card or cash to purchase goods, but in the online world; we can buy virtual goods by paying with our cellphone numbers, from the news “The New York Times, Bits, Using a Cellphone Number to pay for Virtual Goods” by Claire Cain Miller. The author describes the procedures in this article;
“Both companies, players in the hot online payments market, announced
this week that customers could now link their credit or debit card numbers on Zong Web Site and Obopay’s Web sites. Then, when they are shopping for digital goods on certain Web sites, they need only enter their 10-digit phone number to buy something instead of being redirected to a separate Web page and entering extensive credit card information.”
They also suggest letting people use their cellphone to send money to one another via text message and sending money to their children or paying tutors, and housekeepers. In reality, real stuff, like books and clothes could not be payed by using the cellphone numbers. However both companies, Zong and Obopay tried to find the method of the buying the real goods to pay by using cellphone number in near future to simplify and secure their personal information through the wide web site.
Now the cellphone is one of the most essential technological devices of our daily life in this new digital revolution. I think that this new idea, using payment by a cellphone number is very secure and safe to avoid identity theft.
