@Sheamus

Have you heard? You can now pay for your coffee with your iPhone at Starbucks.

This is a nice step forward, but I want to be able to pay for everything with my phone. 

1. When I’m buying groceries, I want to be able to scan all the barcodes as I shop, which will keep a running tally of costs, nutrition, etc, and then when I get to the till I simply scan my phone and it’s charged accordingly.
2. When my son’s PAYG phone runs out of credit, I want to be able to send a text message that tops him up (and charges me).
3. When eating out, I want the waiter to bring a little machine to my table that connects to my phone, and that’s how I pay the bill.
4. I want to walk into the cinema, have it immediately ‘see’ my phone, and my ticket is already halfway printed before I reach the machine. (I’d pre-arrange the movie I wanted to see ahead of time with a text message.)
5. I don’t want to have to queue to pay at the car park. I simply send a text message when I’m ready to leave and it charges my phone.

And when I say pay with my phone, that’s exactly what I mean. Not using my phone to pay, but actually getting charged somewhere else. I want the transaction to be charged to my phone bill. I take my phone everywhere, and I pay my bill every month – why can’t it come with an acceptable line of credit?

This could work with PAYG customers, too. If you have credit on your phone, you should be able to use it as a means of payment. It’s our money. Let us spend it how we want.