Visa Plans To Allow Payments By Swiping Your iPhone

Like the old American Express Card ads used to say, our iPhones have simply become one item that you "Never leave the home without." It's our lifeline to everything important in our lives and very soon, Visa will be introducing another feature to make it even more indispensable: credit card swiping via the iPhone. While our friends in Asia have been enjoying payments via mobile devices for quite some time, Visa is looking to introduce the payment option to iPhone users with the help of a special case. Imagine being able to buy groceries or a cup of coffee by just whipping out your iPhone and swiping it on a terminal. Using Visa PayWave technology that give current Visa card users the opportunity to simply swipe or tap to pay, iPhone users with a specially fitted case would be allowed to do the same. The case is being designed by DeviceFidelity, a company that specializes in contactless mobile payment technology. They currently produce a microSD card that can be used with mobile phones to enable this payment function. Because the iPhone doesn't house an external memory card slot, the case will have the embedded chip that will make all of this possible and ensure security of your credit card information. The idea is definitely promising and will help to consolidate the number of items we'll need to carry with us as we rush out the door. It's also another great step towards a paperless monetary world. But for those of us that like to go naked with our iPhones, a case doesn't sound all too appealing. Additionally, support from more credit card companies will also be crucial to give users a choice when it comes to paying by plastic. Perhaps we see Apple embrace this technology and include it in the hardware someday. For now, there's always bumping with Paypal. [via TUAW]