Smartphone+Wallet

With technology, especially the cell phone &wireless market, it is consistently evolving. It seems like every day our phones have new abilities and are able to provide new benefits. Most people would rather leave their house without their wallet than without their phone. In the near future, it is looking like that choice will not have to be made...
 * Smartphone Wallet **


 * __Vision:__**

== It is the goal of mobile technology to replace consumers wallet with the device they can't live without... their mobile phones. The phone would be a an access point to funds for everyday transactions and payments. This would allow consumers to use their phone similar to a debit or credit card at point of sale terminals across the globe. The potential this technology carries is huge, as the smartphone market share continues to grow and more people are relying on their smartphone on a daily... if not hourly use. ==

== This opens a huge window of opportunity for both merchants and consumers. For the consumer, they are more connected with their finances as they are made readily available while having peace of mind. For merchants, this presents vast opportunity for driving sales and customer traffic. Merchants can deliver coupons directly to the customers phone so that they can receive notification of the available sale while also offering ways to preorder / purchase items before even walking into the store. The examples below show a merchant providing an additional discount when the customer "checks into" the location via a social app (using geo location). These are just a few examples of the major opportunities that lie ahead in this industry. (Please see below) ==

**__Technology:__**
== Technologies utilize NFC (near field communication) to communicate between the phone and the point of sale terminal. This would have the phone acting as the middle man between the financial institutions and the POS terminal. Once the funds are approved by the bank, the phone will send the signal to the terminal, which would then approve the transaction, all of which taking place in seconds. The device will have a 4 digit pin that will ensure your devices / finances are secure. ==

= Below are two demonstrations of this technology by the two main front runners in this field: Isis & Google:  =

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**__Release Timeframe:__**
== What is ultimately slowing down the launch of this technology is rolling out the technology to enough point of sale terminals to deem this cost effective and efficient. In addition, there are a number of parties involved that requires cooperation, including between competitors. For example, the banking institutions need to work in cooperation with device manufacturers, and the device manufacturers need to work with the wireless carriers. Furthermore, all of these parties must cooperate with the point of sale terminal manufacturers and retails to deploy these stations. This creates a process that is tedious and could be left inefficient. ==

**__Current Industry Leaders / Further Reading:__**
== There are a number of programs and initiatives that are already in the works, Google Wallet ( []) and Isis ( []) are the two frontrunners in this technology. Both websites are also great sources that led to the design of this Wiki Page. ==

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