14 DAY TRIAL // Shopping cards are soon to be pushed into oblivion, as the researchers at Barclaycard, a division of Barclays, announce the possibility to replace them with "contactless payment" tech.
They claim to have invested a seven-digit sum for the development of this technology, which is said to allow shoppers to use common, everyday items (key fobs, phones or even exposed body parts such as their fingers or eyes) in order to pay for their goods.
The chief executive of Barclaycard, Antony Jenkins, stated that "It's possible we'll see an end to plastic in the next five to 10 years with new technologies to take its place emerging now. It could turn out to be one of the shortest lived payment methods in history, going from being ubiquitous to a museum piece in the same way as the video cassette."
The Barcleycard team's goal is to have a million customers switch to OnePulse, their contactless payment system, until the end of 2008. For now, in order to purchase items less than £10, OnePulse users need only to touch a special sensor with their cards, even if the card is still in the wallet. According to the scientists' plans, people will soon shop with their mobile phones, hovering them over an item's price tag and confirming the payment, without being forced to stay in a long line for the checkout and with no need for a receipt.
People from Barclaycard have already introduced a cash machine operating with the new technology in the United Arab Emirates. This renders people able to withdraw money using their fingertips as a recognizance method. UK customers were promised to be allowed to do the same soon.
"If I had said to you 10 years ago that you couldn't pay with a cheque at the supermarket, you wouldn't have believed me. That is now the reality, and we see plastic cards going the same way eventually," Mr. Jenkins added.