In the Financial Services Industry, a transaction can have as many variations as a chameleon. Transactions used to be mostly paper checks. Then came Automated Teller Machines and shared Electronic Funds Transfer networks. Now we have on-line banking and electronic bill payments. And do not forget credit cards and debit cards, which themselves come in several flavors like pre-paid, signature, or PIN-based.

Just when you might have thought that the plastic card was going to win out as the preferred Transaction Processing instrument, we have a new player in our industry.

Ladies and Gentlemen, forget your checkbooks. Never mind your wallets. But as for your cell phone: don't leave home without it!

The cell phone is quickly taking on the functions of a number of everyday tools, including your landline phone, personal computer, MP3 player and television.

Next up: your wallet.

Mobile phone makers, cellular operators, financial institutions and other players are working on ways to make your phone a nimble payment device.

The assumption driving these developments is that since the cell phone has evolved to become a device people can't leave home without, like a wallet or keys, why not put it to work as a "smart wallet" and take cash and credit cards to a new mobile realm. The concept was an important theme at this month's CTIA Wireless 2006 convention in Las Vegas, which was highlighted by an announcement by PayPal that it was leaping into the space with its PayPal Mobile service.

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Calvin D. Johnson, Publisher
publisher@tpatlanta.com
Trans Atlantic Systems, Inc.