Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

The Mobile Phone As Digital Wallet

By

The Mobile Phone As Digital WalletAs of Saturday, if you were paying for parking or a train ticket in the UK and it cost less than $20, you had a new way to pay for it – via your mobile phone.   A new payment system calledPayForIt allows users to securely pay for low-cost items and services, with the amount spent added on to the user’s monthly phone bill. It’s beenadopted by all five of the major UK mobile networks.   Essentially, it standardizes the ways phones can be used to pay for goods and services (and as an alternative to the much-hatedpremium-rate texting programs employed in the past) across all the networks.   It’s hoped that it will bring more people into the fold of paying via mobile. According to Mike Short,chairman of the Mobile Data Association,   “It’s for those customers who have not felt comfortable with mobile transactions or payments.”  Users will see an information screen on their phone detailing the purchase. Companies like EA and Sony Ericsson are amongthe big players to have already signed up for PayForIt.

Editors’ Recommendations

Digital Trends Staff
Digital Trends Staff
Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…
Samsung and Apple’s race to slim phones might skirt the sticker shock
Samsung Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 Pro side by side.

Over the course of the past few months, numerous outlets have reported on Samsung and Apple’s plans to make “slim” phones. Naturally, one would think that an “innovation tax” is imminent, but it seems these skinny phones won’t deliver a price shock.

In Apple’s case, the alleged iPhone 17 Air will replace the iPhone Plus model, which apparently had an unexpectedly low sales run. Apple, therefore, has to fill the Plus gap with an Air model this year without making any big changes to the pricing structure.

Read more
You won’t believe how affordable HMD’s newest Android phone is
A render of the HMD Key smartphone.

How much did you pay for your last phone? If you own a flagship or even a mid-tier phone from Apple or Samsung, you spent quite a bit. Even if you opted for one of the more budget-friendly phones, we'd be willing to bet this newest release from HMD is still less expensive.

The new HMD Key is available for sale in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, and while there's no word on a U.S. release yet, we hope to see it launch there because this handset is only $75. Yes, you read that right: $75.

Read more
One of 2024’s most unique folding phones may be getting a successor
The Huawei Mate XT.

The world's first triple-screen foldable phone is expected to get a successor. The Huawei Mate XTs is anticipated to replace the Huawei Mate XT revealed in China last year, according to Fixed Focus Digital (via Android Authority).

Information about the new phone is currently limited. However, it is expected to feature the HiSilicon Kirin 9020 chipset, which is already used in Huawei’s Mate X6 and Mate 70 series. Beyond this, few changes are anticipated as the company transitions from the Mate XT to the Mate XTs. Typically, the company follows an “s” model naming convention when introducing new products with updated internal components, such as systems on chips (SoCs), while keeping other features the same.

Read more