Credit Card and Finance Blog

NEW ORLEANS — Cash, coins and credit cards are so Twentieth Century.

At least, that’s the opinion of the electronics manufacturers, phone companies, banks and credit card issuers that expect cellphones to be the main way consumers pay for purchases in the not-so-distant future.

The trouble is, that vision-of-tomorrow is somewhat blurry, as evidenced at the U.S. cellphone industry trade show held last week in New Orleans. There are a lot of ideas, but little agreement.

One clear step in the digital direction is the growing number of merchants who process credit card payments via iPhones or iPads.

At Burger Boy Diner in Old Louisville, server Olivia Myatt said it’s convenient and cheaper to swipe cards via the Square system, which involves a small device that plugs into an iPhone to read credit cards.

Myatt likes how the system makes it easy for customers to tip — they just hit a “$ 1” or “$ 2” button — and they can get a receipt by email or text message by putting in their phone number. With Square’s app, customers sign their bills digitally on the phone’s screen.

“It’s conv……………. continues on The Courier-Journal

NEW ORLEANS — Cash, coins and credit cards are so Twentieth Century.

At least, that’s the opinion of the electronics manufacturers, phone companies, banks and credit card issuers that expect cellphones to be the main way consumers pay for purchases in the not-so-distant future.

The trouble is, that vision-of-tomorrow is somewhat blurry, as evidenced at the U.S. cellphone industry trade show held last week in New Orleans. There are a lot of ideas, but little agreement.

One clear step in the digital direction is the growing number of merchants who process credit card payments via iPhones or iPads.

At Burger Boy Diner in Old Louisville, server Olivia Myatt said it’s convenient and cheaper to swipe cards via the Square system, which involves a small device that plugs into an iPhone to read credit cards.

Myatt likes how the system makes it easy for customers to tip — they just hit a “$ 1” or “$ 2” button — and they can get a receipt by email or text message by putting in their phone number. With Square’s app, customers sign their bills digitally on the phone’s screen.

“It’s conv……………. continues on The Courier-Journal