Card.io Shows Off Mobile Payment Service That Takes Photos Of Your Credit Card

There are a lot of companies betting that people in the US and other countries are going to embrace mobile payments in a big way. NFC technology is the direction many of those firms are taking to allow payments on the go. There are other methods too though with some using sound like Naratte and other taking a different round altogether. One of the firms taking a different, and more obvious route, to mobile payments is Card.io.

The company was founded by a couple former AdMob executives. The system is actually very easy. The company is targeting developers to get them to integrate Card.io tech into their websites. Once the tech is integrated, the user will be able to activate the Card.io app and it will give them a little green box on the phone screen that says, "Hold credit card here." The user gets the card in the right spot and then snaps a pic with the smartphone camera.

The tech behind the app then takes the photo and strips out the card data that is needed so the user doesn't have to type. I don't see the app asking for the rear security code on some cards that many sites need, presumably a second photo would take care of that. Once the card is sent to the website where a purchase is being made the credit card details are deleted from the phone memory.

[via PC Mag]