The future of payments in London?
Had to laugh at this announcement from Barclaycard.
The three in one “OnePulse”card:
1. Chip and PIN card – your regular debit card
2. Contactless payment card (but only in participating retailers and only in London)
3. Oyster card (contactless travelcard for the London Underground)
Barclaycard call this “the future of payments in London” which really falls short in ambition for me.
Why can’t I import all that functionality (and more) onto my mobile phone so I don’t need a card at all? That sounds like the future of global payments.
However, despite this derisory post, I must admit that I will be applying for one, as it does look like the best we’ve got in the UK right now, and at least it means my Oyster Card can go in the bin. That is, unless Barclaycard have read this and terminate me as a customer! 
July 13th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Payments by mobile phone technology…. hmm would this not open up a whole load of security issues? Airwave scanning etc. Unless your talking about pushing buttons in which case a card is easier…
November 29th, 2007 at 10:00 am
[…] I criticised Barclaycard for lack of ambition when they launched the One Pulse card. I feel absolutely certain that their recent decision to invest in mobile payment market testing, is a direct response to my post. […]
March 11th, 2008 at 9:31 am
[…] is already by contactless proximity card so making the leap to contactless payment is just like Oyster and Barclaycard really. I criticised that one heavily for lack of ambition which just goes to show the power of […]