banking
Latest
Cingular readying mobile banking for '07
Cingular would like its customers to manage what little money they don't give their carrier every month with their phones. That's the latest coming out of Cingular's Atlanta HQ, announcing that it's in talks with several unnamed banks to allow customers to "view account balances, transfer funds and pay bills" on its handsets. The system will make use of a downloadable app under development by a third party; whether this all has anything to do with a Citibank-run trial in New York City to make payments using Cingular phones, we're not sure -- but either way, we figure carriers are looking for novel ways into your wallet here.[Thanks, Arun J.]Read - ReutersRead - Citibank trial
Jton's MobiWallet RFID SIMs
As long as we're sitting about twiddling our thumbdrives waiting for one of those ubiquitous, near-field cellphone payment systems used by some more advanced societies for years, we might as well check out the options right? Enter MobiWallet from Jton Systems which combines SIM cards and a refillable, RFID debit payment system to make quick work of public transport and double-half-caff transactions. Start by defining a minimum balance and refill amount. The phone then ensures that you never leave home without by comparing the RFID balance with your minimum threshold and automatically negotiating a refill with the MobiWallet server when necessary. Great, now we just need a provider to go ahead and replace existing SIMs with RFID integrated cards and we're all set -- riiight. Combine with the RFID blocking wallet and voila, an infinite loop with seating for one.
One Time Password DisplayCard heightens transaction security
While we were a bit skeptical when Chase sent us one of their questionably-secure RFID-equipped "Blink" cards last year, we're gonna be all over a new technology from several companies that actually gives credit cards a heigtened level of security by generating a one-time passcode for each transaction, viewable on an embedded e-ink display. The OTP DisplayCard, as it's being called, was developed by InCard Technologies in conjunction with security firm nCryptone using technology from SiPix Imaging and SmartDisplayer, and is being targeted at financial institutions or at other companies as a replacement for the password-generating key fobs used to enable VPN access to their intranets. While the added security feature would come into play for both online and in-person transactions, it will probably be most useful for Internet purchases, making your credit card info almost worthless to identity thieves who can't get their hands on the card itself. Oh, and to answer the inevitable question: no, these cards will not be able to play Doom.[Via mobileread]
