Using a cell phone to make payments is old news in several European countries (Finland, Estonia and Ireland to name a few). Basically, SMS or a simple phone call is used to charge the cost of soft drinks, parking etc to the phone bill.
The shall we say "less smooth" solution that Nokia and MasterCard are testing in Texas sounds very backwards. A special cover, a "SmartCover", has to be snapped on to your cell phone. Or you can buy a new handset wit the technology, PayPass, built in. You then "wave" or "tap" your phone in front of a regular card reader in the store.
If all this wasn't enough (do you really want a bulkier phone?) "participating merchants are able to send advertisements to consumers' SmartCover phones using a short-messaging service". Don't like it? Well, you can "opt out of receiving the advertisements after 30 days".
Why would I want to snap an extra cover on my phone? And if I did, why should I have to accept advertising?
The concept (paying for services and items via cell phone) is good. This implementation is not.
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