Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Cellphones may soon replace plastic cards for withdrawing and depositing money. Some banks have already started testing the technology and may implement it later this year. ICICI Bank has already started experimenting with card less transactions though it is not known which company’s technology platform they use. The bank has recently launched card less remittance service. Apart from that, a Bengaluru based mobile payment solution provider mChek is working with banks in India and abroad to roll-out its card-less technology platform. An employee of the firm, focused on mobile bill payment , recharge, flight bookings, and movie ticketing, says mobile phones can be the second level of authentication, beyond passwords, for establishing identities. Airtel has this technology already in use. Using two levels, rather than just one, implies a greater level of assurance. Currently, when an ATM card is inserted into a machine and a pin entered, the combination of the two, which is registered wit...

Pesky break downs in the middle of a busy street due to engine trouble would become a thing of past as future technologies would enable a car flash health report well in advance indicating all was not well with it. "Your car could send an e-mail telling you that it's time to drop in for a health checkup at your nearest service centre," said Dr Alan Taub, executive director, General Motors Research and Development in Warren Michigan, while tracing the future technology in the automotive industry. "It could warn you well in advance that it was having an engine problem or that the brake pads were getting worn out or that the battery has not been charged enough", he said. The component of electrification and electronification of value added software in vehicles, especially in the high end segment will go up to 40 per cent by 2015, said Mr Allan. The vehicle would have sophisticated software that could be serviced by just downloading a patch of software. GM, whic...