“Will that be cash, credit, check, or phone?”

Pay by mobile phone in Europe:

Four of Europe’s leading mobile phone operators have announced the formation of a mobile payment services association which will provide their customers with a multi-network, commonly branded solution for making payments using their phones.

Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone, along with Spain’s Telefonica Moviles, announced the alliance yesterday which will enable customers across Europe to securely buy digital or physical goods using their handsets.

The alliance hopes to establish an industry standard which will enable merchants and operators to press on with the roll out of more m-payment enabled services.

….In the online world, while people buying books from Amazon, for example, will doubtless continue to use their credit cards, users may prefer to make smaller payments, typically of around a few pounds, for services such as games, crosswords, downloads or website subscriptions, via their mobile phones. [Silicon.com]