Does the future of bill paying involve just taking a photo?

Even since the conception of the App Store, every download that's been submitted to it has been aiming to make a part of life simpler.

From helping create to-do lists, to telling us the weather or creating a personalised news feed for your commute, they all want to solve a problem.

Now Virtusa, a business consulting and IT firm has created an app that could potentially make painless one of the most annoying aspects of modern life: paying the bills.

The app is able to scan all the necessary data it needs from a single image as the video shows, and appears to work in a similar way to existing technology that enables users to use an image to scan iTunes gift cards, as well as credit cards to make payments on some sites.

Sameet Gupte, Virtusa's managing director said: "Customers are demanding the same speed and simplicity from banking as they enjoy in other areas of their life.

Mobile payments are a growing trend (Jeff Chiu/AP)

"For example, if they can order a DVD online with one click of a button, why can't they pay their bills in the same way? We are seeing increasing adoption of mobile banking, via mobile phones and tablets, and customers are seeking payment solutions that make their life simpler."

Rather than being an independent app, Mobile Photo Bill Pay is more likely to be built into existing banking apps. For now, none in the UK have started to use the technology, but with Apple Pay and Android Pay both beginning to roll out more widely, banks may take the opportunity to embrace the the extending power of mobile payments.

Source: Does the future of bill paying involve just taking a photo?