From guest writer, Mark Brown

It seems that each year we find companies vying for our attention with new technologies created to make it easier to spend our hard-earned money.

Masked in the guise of making our lives simpler and our finances easier to handle, incredibly, their efforts typically seem to result in healthy profits for themselves and larger debts for us.

Nevertheless, here are some advanced payment methods, some of which have already taken root in certain markets, while others are being still in the process of being developed, and still others are based only upon theory and future possibilities.

In the Pipeline

1. Scanners

Scanner payments, similar to those some motorists use to pay highway tolls or subway tickets, may be a feasible option for a payment method. It’s hard to deny the ease of driving through a restaurant’s pick-up window, and only having to collect your food and be on your way, with the charges automatically added to a scanner within your vehicle.

2. Cell Phones

This is probably the most likely upcoming form of payment being developed. Being able to make payments for items by using your phone will just add another application to the already growing list of uses for a cellular phone.

Apple’s App Store is seeing an influx of payment processing apps for both business and personal use, but the technology is already mainstream in Kenya where consumers use their mobiles to text money to each other as a form of payment.

3. Prepaid Cards

Like Traveller’s Cheques or chips at a casino, prepaid cards would just be another way of replacing cash. Similar to prepaid credit cards now, they could be loaded with a certain cash amount at purchase, but might be available to be purchased more widely and readily.

4. PayPal

PayPal or similar systems present another option to use for Internet-based transactions. Its an expanding market and although many retailers and companies don’t accept this form of payment, the security of being able to purchase items with this type of system continues to make it a popular option.

5. Smart Cards

You may soon find yourself being able to use one card for all your purchases. This Smart card could have the ability to combine your bank, store, and credit cards all into one card, making your wallet just a bit thinner (except for the receipts).

Possibilities of Probabilities?

6. Chip in Hand

Some in the industry have debated an implant, possibly embedded somewhere in the hand, becoming the new credit card. Like an emperor’s whim or Merlin’s magic wand, you would be able to command goods and services with a simple wave of your hand.

The idea of a person’s hand being stolen rather than their purse or wallet tends to put a damper on this idea though. Admittedly, the thought of a society of bloody-stumped consumers is a bit of a turn-off.

Besides, the Big Brother-esque intrusion of privacy in being chipped (and therefore being trackable) is a major roadblock for this technology that is extremely undesirable, regardless of its convenience.

7. Personal Scanner

In the future, we may find that technology allows us to pay by way of our personal features. A device that can read a thumbprint, veins or perform an eye or facial scan for payment could be an option, although it once again brings up the argument regarding privacy as well as theft, injury, and how best to avoid such scenarios.

8. Voice Activated Payment

We’ve already seen the availability of voice activated technology in cars, computers, alarm clocks, and a variety of other gadgets. The next step may very well be geared toward a voice activated form of payment.

9. DNA

For those who really fear the theft of their identity or financial information, the only way to placate their fears may be to pay by way of DNA code. A device that reads your genetic make-up and connects it to an account or accounts could be the safest way of making a payment. Moreover, if a thief figures out how to replicate our DNA just to steal a few bucks, I say they’ve earned the right to it!
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Editor’s comment – I’m always looking to make this site more rounded and interesting for readers and offering opinions and views from other perspectives may do that.

This is the first post like this. It comes from a guest writer, Mark Brown. Mark writes for the Australian comparison website Credit Card Compare.

If you feel you’ve something readers may value, please contact me through the link on this page. If it fits the brief, I’ll think about posting it!