There is no doubt that companies are constantly striving to make paying for things easier. Not only does it make it more simple than having to carry around cash or cards but it also can cause people to pay for things that they may not if they were using a more conventional payment method.
Virtual Reality Payment Processing
We have seen things like wristbands that held a prepaid amount on it for use on the go, mobile payment solutions and even attempts by companies to launch products that would hold all of your cards and let you “call” them up as needed. Short of going retina-scan with voice confirmation, I think many are comfortable with how payment processing is done right now.
But, that does not stop one company, WorldPay, from announcing that they will be bringing payment processing to virtual reality. As the VR movement continues to forward and become more accessible in the mainstream, it may seem like a good idea. The actual payment process they demo works similar to any real-life transaction. While that may seem like too many steps for someone involved in a virtual reality adventure, it at least should remind the users that they are using real-life money in their virtual reality world.
While it does not make a lot of sense to me (I am not into the VR arena so that should explain it), apparently there will be a large market for this type of system in places like China (their survey says 93% says they would consider such payment solutions).
At the end of the day, if it helps to keep credit cards safe in yet another online arena, I think people would be happy with it. WorldPay is thinking about also bringing it into VR retail areas with places like Ikea at some point as well so it could be possible that we will see this outside of just the VR gaming space.
In the meantime, I am happy with my mobile payments loaded with my US Bank Altitude Reserve card! 🙂
Source: Bloomberg
