In January, Starbucks announced that customers could start using their phones to buy coffee in 6, 800 of its stores. This is the first pay-by-phone practice in the U. S. , but we’re likely to see more wireless payment alternatives as something called near field communication(NFC) gets into America’s consumer electronics. Last December, some new smart phones which contain an NFC chip were introduced to the public.

　　Already in use in parts of Asia and Europe, NFC allows shoppers to wave their phones a few inches above a payment terminal—a contact-free system built for speed and convenience. But before NFC becomes widely adopted in the U. S. , a few problems need to be worked out, like who will get to collect the profitable transaction (交易) fees. Although some credit card providers have been experimenting with wave-and-pay systems that use NFC-enabled credit cards, cellphone service providers may try to muscle their way into the point-of-sale(POS) market. Three big cellphone service providers have formed a joint venture　(合资企业) that will go into operation over the next 15 months. Its goal is “to lead the U. S. payments industry from cards to mobile phones.”

　　The other big NFC issue, apart from how payments will be processed, is security. For instance, what’s to stop a thief from digitally pickpocketing you? “We’re still not at the point where an attacker can just brush against you in a crowd and steal all the money out of your phone,” says Jimmy Shah, a mobile-security researcher. “Users may also be able to set transaction limits, perhaps requiring a password to be entered for larger purchases.”

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