"Cash to become extinct as chips take off."

A headline from Australia that baffled me a little. The "chips" are computer chips, and the prediction is that your portable electronic device — basically, your phone — will become your means of paying for everything.

This is all very nice, but my iPhone is already making me nervous. I won't leave my passwords in it for fear of theft. Can they please figure out how to make the thing work only when I'm touching it?

(And, yes, I know about passcodes, but: 1. I don't want to be bothered entering a code every time I use the phone, and 2. Thieves sometimes snatch the phone right out of your hand while you're using it.)