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As much as I love the idea of ubiquitous mobile payments, it's not going to let us ditch our wallets any time soon until the government accepts our phones as a valid form of ID to replace driver's licenses, etc. Until then, my credit card is just another piece of plastic in my wallet. If I have to keep carrying my wallet with me regardless, how do mobile payments make my life easier?

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I think that's a good point and IDs will definitely be one of the more significant inhibitors of widespread adoption. That said, perhaps if mobile payments networks took off, private side innovation might help push public sector reform (naive, I know..but I can dream..). And if an ID were the only thing you needed, I wouldn't be surprised if smartphone cases with ID sleeves quickly showed up in the market to bring the wallet and phone together

My first thought is of a phone case that has a slot for credit and ID cards. I thought it was a pretty brilliant idea - the only reason I don't use it is because I still have to carry cash and other miscellaneous crap. :(

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