A number of companies are exploring the viability of mobile payment systems including T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T and now, there is a new entry as Visa has announced that in conjunction with the Bank of America, they plan on beta testing a new system in New York starting in September.

The trial will last at least four month, until the end of December and if successful, it will represent a big step towards the introduction of digital wallets and contactless payment systems. Ultimately, this payment method could one day replace current payment options as the most popular method of buying merchandise. The system that is being tested in New York city may be new to the area, but globally, contact-free payments have been around for many years, especially within the country of Japan.

Deploying this technology is not an expensive venture as it consists of just a small microchip that is embedded within a smartphone which when “bumped” up against a point of sale machine, transfers your banking data to the vendor to complete the financial transaction. Though this motion is called a “bump”, it really consists of just waving your mobile device in the vicinity of the POS machine.

Via: Geeky Gadgets