Comments on: You Can Turn Your Phone into a Credit Card with Google Wallet. Will You?

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:59:36 +0000

Geez, why not just build a slot in the phone to hold a bank card?

By: Jay Fox

Jay Fox — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:50:37 +0000

I’m with Jennifer. Cash is king. My cell phone only makes and receives calls. It’s so cheap I’m not worried about losing it. No one would steal it. And for photos, well, I have a real camera for that.

By: lil asian boy

lil asian boy — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:19:06 +0000

rfid chips are stupid, why would u want a machine inside ur body. And the
idea of the google wallet is stupid cuz if u lose ur phone ur done for

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:39:12 +0000

It seems like a bad idea security-wise. I wouldn’t do it.

By: Veronique Greenwood

Veronique Greenwood — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:20:23 +0000

@ Bob, there’s a prepaid option (shown in the picture), and there’s a credit card option.

By: Holli Moreno

Holli Moreno — Tue, 31 May 2011 01:50:56 +0000

…are we that lazy that every technology is geared towards eliminating every effort that we exert no matter how minimal they are? Is carrying and using a credit card too burdensome?

By: Jennifer Angela

Jennifer Angela — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:23:47 +0000

Oh, and for the record… I loved this article!

By: Jennifer Angela

Jennifer Angela — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:22:21 +0000

Call me old-fashioned, but I even refuse to purchase every day goods with a credit card for safety reasons and for many other reasons too, that I will explain later. It´s fun to have your own principles. It cracks me up to see how many people react to it. Attempt to visualize the faces of bank clerks when I refuse to accept a credit card including an overdraft. I have seen too many people lose their freedom and dignity and waste their lives due to that invention. Imagine also – the faces of surprised shop assistants, when I pay them in cash. But you see, I dislike causing stressful situations that drag me down all by myself. I do not find it rational, responsible or mature of any adult person to pay for milk, butter, bread, yoghurts, dinner on the menu and other goods I purchase every day or on most days with my credit card. Also, that way I have no financial problems. Unlike most of my credit card using friends, who lose the oversight over how much money exactly they spend every day and are surprised when they end up having an overdraft, that they then can´t pay off in years and years. Also if somebody steals my so-and-so-many bucks (not a huge amount) I allow myself to spend a day, that isn´t the end of the world. It´s just bad luck. My phone, that always has a credit of about five bucks on it and itself is not worth much more – again I don´t have to invest too much concern into what may happen, if somebody bothers to steal the old thing one day. It´s the easy life people. But don´t get me wrong. Of course I have a second beautiful camera phone at home, that remains there. I do want to enjoy the beauty of current technical inventions just as much as you guys do. I just don´t like to stress myself out. And so I would never use a credit card phone, but I think people who use a credit card everyday may enjoy having their cash and their phone in one place. I think it´s a good invention. Although I have to warn you guys – the more a phone can do, the less handy it turns out to be as a phone. I´ve made that experience. That was actually the main reason I decided to leave my beautiful camera phone at home in the first place. It makes great pictures. But it´s a lousy phone. My simple cheap phone as opposed to that, is a great phone. I can call anybody anytime without it asking me for ten minutes which profile I prefer and not letting me call anybody unless I answer. That´s the kind of thing beautiful and intelligent phones do. Add another function – the credit card function – and your multifunctional phone may just drive you crazy.

By: Bob Snyder

Bob Snyder — Sun, 29 May 2011 15:43:47 +0000

Great, a reason for people to steal your phone now instead of your wallet. And you’re trading the “convenience” of not having to carry a credit card (or wallet or purse) for the inconvenience of having to put more security on the phone (i.e. having to punch in a code every time you look at the phone or risk not having the phone locked if it gets lost or stolen.) Not to mention if you do have to enter a code to unlock the phone now and it was lost while locked, you won’t be able to get it back unless you physically wrote your address/number somewhere on the phone (probably on the battery cover) which people don’t/won’t do.

And excuse me for being picky, but if you have a PIN and a pre-paid balance, it’s not called a credit card. If you notice on the little screen there in the picture, it clearly says pre-paid card. Putting a credit card on your phone (that wouldn’t require a PIN or even a signature if the purchase was under $50 at some retailers) could be a very bad idea.

And the more stuff you combine into 1 gadget, the more likely it will get stolen and the bigger the headache of replacing it if it is lost or broken.

Count me out.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 29 May 2011 11:21:19 +0000

“it’s not like it will be spectacularly less tedious to use than a credit card” I agree with this. A bank card is much more convenient than writing a check or having to carry cash around. Using your cell phone to pay is no more convenient, and probably less convenient, than using a bank card. I carry a cell phone around most of the time, but not all the time. I always have my wallet and thats not likely to change. I’m all for new technology though so let’s see how it goes. I know this article wasn’t written as an in depth description of Wallet, but listing some benefits would have been nice.

By: Iain

Iain — Sun, 29 May 2011 01:58:25 +0000

A long, long time ago I read a sci-fi story ( i forget the title) where the people all carried a thing called a joy stick. It was a phone, computer, payment card, library and many more things all rolled into one. I guess we are headed down this road.

By: Tom Hanna

Tom Hanna — Sat, 28 May 2011 15:11:39 +0000

How convenient, all your day to day information in one place. Loose your phone and you are definately hooped!!!