> It is not like using my credit-cards or ATM-cards or just plain-old-cash didn't work just fine and comfortable and reliable enough...?
From an industry point of view, I think it makes small transactions extremely secure - with the secure element in the NFC chip, tapping it to the payment terminal provides complete physical proof of the presence of the card. That's way better than even having a sales person sight the card or magnetic stripe etc. which be easily forged.
Once the transactions themselves are very secure there's no longer a need for things like signatures or PINs or other layers of security. That means you as a consumer can just walk into a store, take some things, tap your card / phone and leave. It's a bit hard to describe, but once you've done this you realize (at least I did) how much anxiety the barrier of payment at the end was detracting from your shopping experience. It's not rational, but my personal experience is that there's a strong level of anxiety about being challenged as to your identity and this removes it and makes the whole experience really easy and pleasant.
I can see the experience benefit but what you described, there is a HUGE problem: if anyone steals your phone then they too can just place it there and tap on it. I doubt everyone locks their phone and there is nothing verifying that it is actually the real owner tapping. That's exactly why CCs and ATMs require you to have your card AND a PIN or at least require a signature.
From an industry point of view, I think it makes small transactions extremely secure - with the secure element in the NFC chip, tapping it to the payment terminal provides complete physical proof of the presence of the card. That's way better than even having a sales person sight the card or magnetic stripe etc. which be easily forged.
Once the transactions themselves are very secure there's no longer a need for things like signatures or PINs or other layers of security. That means you as a consumer can just walk into a store, take some things, tap your card / phone and leave. It's a bit hard to describe, but once you've done this you realize (at least I did) how much anxiety the barrier of payment at the end was detracting from your shopping experience. It's not rational, but my personal experience is that there's a strong level of anxiety about being challenged as to your identity and this removes it and makes the whole experience really easy and pleasant.