Community

Still more likely for the NFC chip to be in a keyfob/dongle on your keyring than on a disposable device like a mobile phone. (iPhone 5 - the clue is in the name - it's the 5th iteration. I'm not onto my 5th keyring in that timescale, but I've had lots of different mobile phones, which sometimes get left behind when I leave the house, or their batteries run out, unlike my keys).

And who says that you can't just put your NFC dongle in your phone's case if you really want to use your phone to swipe for payments, rather than your keyring, or bank plastic card, or your wristwatch, or whatever.

Live CDs are good for an emergency (most linux magazines have a free one on the front cover). However, the disk is effectively a brand-new system every time you use it - so you won't have your bookmarks or any other settings saved.

Instead, you can use a live Linux distro on a USB stick, or other removable storage media, that actually is persistent, so that your data settings and any programs/files/drivers are saved. Even better you can also set it with a password, or add encryption. I've used many versions of linux this way (including ubuntu, which you mentioned), and it can be very handy for retreiving data from a hard-drive where windows has crashed.

Alternatively, for the home user, why not just install Linux on a separate hard-drive partition and dual boot, so you have the choice of Windows or Linux every time you turn on the PC. Use the windows partition for any windows software you need to use (e.g. MS Office products) and the Linux partition for the internet.

Note it is a big security loophole for a business to allow their machines to boot from a USB or CD, a BIOS password should be set so the machines are unable to boot this way unless needed!

Keyrings

Mobile phones are of limited use for payments as they are disposable technology. You change it whenever you feel like it; they break; their batteries run out.

I've never changed my keyring, it doesn't break and has no battery.

In fact, I already have a payment device of sorts on my keyring - it's a Tesco clubcard key fob. It has a barcode that you scan to get "loyalty points". But it could as easily be a contactless chip.

Sport teaches us that if there is a gap or loophole in the rules, someone will eventually discover it and exploit it - until it is banned by the rules. Sport is littered with examples, ranging from the F1 example above, to bodyline bowling in cricket, through to the backpass in football.

Evolutionary biology is similar - altruism (i.e. self regulation) only works if all sides benefit. Cleaner fish are not eaten when they clean the mouths of larger fish, as the former benefit from the food they find and the latter benefit more from a clean mouth than a quick meal. In the financial world, FIs all get together to fight fraud, as the disadvantage of one organisation facilitating fraudsters would be outweighed by the sanctions the others would apply to it.

Otherwise, the rules applied by nature (the regulatory environment) are all that counts.

For person to person, why not use cash. Or indeed mobile to mobile payment.

Is there a need to transfer from mobile to a plastic token and then physically give that plastic token to another person who then moves it to their mobile in turn. Unless this is the replacement for cheques?

I've already got smart plastic money. Some are called credit cards and others are called debit cards. They already pass the bum test and, best of all, I don't need my mobile phone to use them!

The Northern Bank plastic fivers are still in circulation in Northern Ireland. While I've never seen them ripped, they suffer from fading, and end up as almost transparent pieces of plastic.

My guess is that it'll be replaced by the one-off direct debit mandate (SEPA style).

I read that Islamic banking is popular with non-muslims in areas where there is more than one religion (Malaysia, I think). If a bank here markets Islamic-compliant products as "ethical", rather than overtly "Islamic", they could capture the green market - as well as other religious groups concerned with ursury.

Islamic banking's advatantages are security and certainty... but disadvantages are the rates. Essentially, it boils down to whether you are up for a gamble or not!

I have often wondered why identification is always one way, with the bank website asking me for a password. Instead, why not make it two way and I ask the bank for a password as well. This could be a single thing, or a range of questions:

What's my favourite fruit?

Can you show the picture of me holding a penguin?

When did I last use one of your ATMs?

After all, your identity is supposed to be shared with those you know. And this is a two way process.