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Cash, why won't you just die?
Well it soon might. Spending on debit and credit cards in the UK overtook cash for the first time last year, and the technology industry is gearing up for the battle. Apple is considering heavily subsidising payment terminals for shops as it prepares to take on rival "Near Field Communications" (NFC) systems from Visa and Mastercard, which allow shoppers to simply wave their credit card at the checkout.
NFC is familiar to most Britons as the technology behind Transport for London's Oyster card and less successfully the promotion Barclaycard, where useres can make small purchases by simply waving their card.
Steve Jobs' mobile payments service is expected to be launched in the United States as soon as mid-2011, according to Bloomberg. Can Apple really take on the credit card industry? I hope so.
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