Monday, August 01, 2005

McDonald's offers a tap instead of a swipe

Recently I noticed a new device on the counter at the local McDonald's near campus:



Look closely. This credit card terminal lets you swipe your card - as expected - and it lets you tap your card.



The oil company Mobil pioneered the concept years ago, with a small device you could easily put on your key ring. Hold your key ring with a smal special RFID device near the gas pump, and it authorizes a claim against your credit card. Now McDonald's and the credit card industry have caught up.

Fast food; fast payment. It's coming, and soon.

1 comment:

shannon said...

that tap thing at mcdonalds doesn't work for me. i don't know why, maybe i don't have the right kind of card. if you ask me, all these little gimmicky credit card processing things are just putting people in more debt. credit cards are for emergencies... mcdonalds is not an emergency!!