Indian e-commerce firm turns cell phones into mobile credit cards

An Indian e-commerce firm has created a software/hardware combination that lets consumers use their cell phones as credit cards. Customers can simply aim the cell phone at the payment counter and their purchase is charged to their account. The move has excited interest in cell phone circles because it is perceived as "high-tech" and innovative, but also has considerable utilitarian appeal.

Original news summary: (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1038586.cms)

Cell phones are back in the news yet again; this time, however for a good reason.
If you thought that SMS, radio, camera, internet and net banking were some of the ultimate services available on your cell phone and anything more was inconceivable, here's another service that just got added to your mobile menu.
India's very first mobile credit card, the m-Wallet!
Standard Chartered and VISA launched 'm-Wallet' at Westside in Mumbai.
Murali M Natrajan, head of consumer banking, Indian and Nepal division, Standard Chartered said, "The launch of the m-Wallet makes us pioneers in ushering mobile commerce in India."
It is now possible to make a style statement on your shopping sprees and impress fellow shoppers by flashing the latest feature in mobile technology.
While other shoppers make payments by cash or card, m-Wallet users just have to 'beam' their mobile phones at the payment counter to complete their purchase.
If credit cards provided shoppers the freedom of cash free purchases, mobile phones with inbuilt credit cards will make hauling wallets altogether redundant.
I am hoping that this application will extend from shopping to other areas like restaurants, hotels, ticketing and travelling."
"The m-Wallet technology is backed by inbuilt PKI security and JAVA technology which makes it far more safer than credit cards, so obviously it is a much smarter and safer mode of payment," explains Murali M Natrajan.
The m-Wallet also has the shoppers' eternal favourite magic word 'free' attached to it as it uses infrared mode, a free feature in mobile phones, to operate.
Jan Verplancke, chief information officer and group head, technology & operations of the Standard Chartered group says, "We are driven to combine the latest in technology with customer needs, and that is what m-Wallet is aimed at."