New m-commerce platform unveiled

The card.io Web-based mobile commerce platform has been introduced in the US, reveals the Telecompaper.

The platform allows smartphone users to carry out m-payments by taking a photo of their credit cards using their handset's camera.

Once the credit card has been photographed, card.io's technology scans the card for the data required in order to complete the transaction.

Instead of going after retailers, card.io has set its eyes on iOS developers in e-commerce, local, ticketing, travel in addition to daily deal apps by inviting them for a private beta unveiling, writes the Wireless Federation.

On the other hand, card.io has teamed up with Mogo Tix for event tickets, TaskRabbit for local services, and then SamaSource for donations.

According to PC Magazine, co-founder Mike Mettler, a pre-Google developer at AdMob, said the company was betting that in the long-run, software will win out over hardware-dependent mobile payment solutions like those proposed by Isis and Google Wallet.

And unlike the latter, Mettler isn't concerned about being able to use your phone to buy anything a credit card can buy. “I'm never going to buy a mortgage on my phone,” he said.