No Revolution

Credit cards with radio tags speed purchases but track customers, too - The Boston Globe: "Already, 20 million Americans have credit or debit cards that contain radio frequency identification technology chips, or RFID chips. These chips let a cardholder make a purchase by waving the card in front of a contactless card reader, instead of sliding the card through a magnetic reader or handing it to a sales clerk.

Now cellphone makers like Finland's Nokia Corp. are building the chips into their phones. That could transform the cellphone into a universal payment device that could supplant the credit card altogether.

``Some people will say, instead of having five credit cards, I'll have them all in one phone,' said Gerhard Romen, Nokia's head of global market development.

The prospect appeals to many merchants, who hope that the new system will let them ring up sales more quickly and securely than with today's credit cards or with cash.

But not everyone is convinced."