New Visa Mobile application on Google's G1 platform

Last week Visa announced that it introduced new service to allow customers make mobile payments. The service is based on G1, which runs on Google's Android operating system. The primary function of the new Visa Mobile application, a free download for G1 owners, is to connect your mobile device to your credit card. Advocates of the NFC payments believe that the technology makes the transaction much faster and besides it simplifies communication between electronic devices with an enhanced security as long as the users stays in control of the device.

Cardholders using the service are provided with near real time updates thus being able to conveniently monitor their accounts. They can see how the card is being used at the moment and this allows them to detect the fraud in a short time. Customers can set the service to send them alerts on either overseas transaction or on transactions that exceed $20. Initially the service will be available only to Chase Visa cardholders.

Today there is a number of companies who participate in piloting payments through NFC. With the contactless technology customers can wave a phone on a store checkout reader to make a payment instead of swiping a credit card. At present time over 30,000 retailers nationwide -- including all 6,300 CVS stores, for instance -- have contactless readers installed at the checkout lines. For now, customers can tap their credit or debit cards that have NFC chips inside.