Visa, the titan of credit cards, announced the In2Pay case for the iPhone today.  It’s essentially enables your iPhone to perform a contactless payment using NFC technology.  The case contains a microSD card that is embedded with a near field communication chip.  Once your details are registered with the corresponding app all you have to do is swipe your phone (with case) by the pay terminal and the transaction will be completed.

Sounds cool, right?  The only problem is that the necessary terminals are few and far between, but since the system is being rolled out by Visa and the case is built for the massively popular iPhone, there is a possibility that this form of payment will soon take off.  But if Visa really wants the system to take off, they’ll need Apple to build NFC into their future devices or produces a SIM card that contains the technology.

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It’ll be a long time, if not never, that Americans start using NFC (near field communication) to pay for their goods via a cell phone.  But just in case you want to be on the cutting edge and happen to have a need to read and send RFID signals than you’re in luck.  Wireless’ Dynamics just announced the iCarte 110, an accessory plugs into the iPhone or iPod Touch’s 30 pin connector and adds the aforementioned abilities to the handset.

NFC enabled cell phones has long been used in a few Asian countries to quickly pay for goods at say a quickie mart or 7-11, something called contactless payment – it essentially means your cell phone is a credit or debit card.  While I don’t see that happening here in the US anytime soon (it has been tested in the US), RFID is growing with popularity, albeit on the corporate level and is largely used for keeping track of warehouse inventory.

[via Slashgear]

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Apparently, BMW dreams of a world where cold hard cash is no longer, and their keys are the currency of choice.  Afterall, BMWs have long been the choice of those trying to obtain social currency.  What the hell am I talking about?  BMW is set to introduce a car key which includes a contactless payment system.  The whole idea sounds a bit luni and will require a major paradigm shift in how we purchase products.  But when you look at Korea’s use of NFC in cell phones, it’s not that far off.  I suppose it could be ideal  when passing through a toll, although BMW’s drive and ride (a train) is a bit of stretch.

BMW plans to show of the tech at this year’s CARTES & IDentification show in Paris from 4th to 6th November 2008.

Full press release here

[EEtimes]