I think we can all agree life would be better if it were more like the movie Minority Report. Well, except perhaps the whole "convicted of a crime we never committed" thing. And the dull concrete/glass architecture. And Tom Cruise.

But everything else about that movie was cool. Self driving cars, spider-bots and the force guns they went "thoomp!" and threw people backwards. We also really like the iris-scan payments.

People walk onto the subway and it scans their eyes and charges their metroticket for the fare. Tom Cruise limps into a store holding a half-naked bald girl and purchases a whole new wardrobe just by blinking at the flashing light. Just a quick glance and you can be on your way with your purchases.

Compare that to our current payment systems and the whole "swipe, wait, press buttons, wait, print receipt, wait, sign, wait, check signature, wait" seems positively prehistoric.

Which is why we will be first in line when Visa roll out payWave. The technology uses an integrated RFID (radio frequency identification) chip, so to make a purchase all you have to do is wave your card near the reader, a lot like the access security cards in most buildings today.

Visa tout the payWave technology as "a quick and convenient payment method that eliminates direct contact at the merchant terminal. It’s faster and more convenient than cash and as secure as traditional Visa card transactions".

The technology was introduced back in 2005 and Visa ran some public trials for a few years before going live in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe. Currently, the service isn't available in Australia, but Visa plans to release the system here soon.

Any payWave enabled card also comes with the ordinary chip and swipe technology, in case the merchant doesn't support the system.

You can even get a Visa MicroTag, which is a small key ring that looks like the car door opener and operates the same as your ordinary credit card (although you obviously can't use it at a swipe terminal).

In the U.S. the technology only supports transactions under $25 which covers most quick service items such as quick marts and fast food. For purchases over $25, you can still use payWave, but you'll also need to sign for the purchase.

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