Visa, Nokia Integrate Credit Cards Into Mobile Phones

Like most of the country, I spent the first part of the new year deleting pictures of the inside of my pockets/backpack/not sure from my camera phone.  So it’s with some trepidation that I bring you new news on the credit card front: Nokia, in cahoots with Visa, is launching a line of cell phones with a credit card function.

Because that’s a good idea.  Because no one ever loses a cell phone.  Drunkenly.  In a cab.  In Newark.

With chips in phones, Visa’s hope is to make fiscal transactions easier for consumers by allowing them to make remote payment, person-to-person payments, and contact-free payments.  Consumers will also be able to manage their accounts and transactions from their mobile phones.

Consumers savvy enough to work cell phones in the first place, that is.

The initial version was launched Monday.  Watch this spot for the spate of identity-theft articles related to misplaced cell phones in the coming months.