The landscape of payments is rapidly evolving, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT) and its profound impact on how we conduct transactions. The era of smart payments has arrived, bringing innovative solutions that enhance convenience, security, and efficiency. In this article, we will explore the role of IoT in smart payments, its applications, benefits, challenges, and the future of this transformative technology.

The Intersection of IoT and Payments

Smart payments represent a significant shift in the way we handle financial transactions, offering seamless and secure payment methods that leverage IoT technologies. IoT is all about interconnected devices, sensors, and systems, and when applied to payments, it opens the door to a range of possibilities.

Key Applications of IoT in Smart Payments

1. Contactless Payments

IoT-enabled devices, such as contactless payment cards, wearables, and mobile apps, allow users to make payments by simply tapping or holding their device near a point-of-sale (POS) terminal. This technology is not only convenient but also reduces physical contact, which has become more important in the context of public health.

2. IoT in Retail

In retail, IoT is enhancing the payment experience through features like smart kiosks and automated checkout. Customers can scan items and make payments without going through a traditional checkout process, streamlining the shopping experience.

3. Mobile Wallets

Mobile payment wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay use IoT technology to enable secure, contactless payments using smartphones or smartwatches. These wallets are widely accepted by retailers and provide users with a digital representation of their payment cards.

4. IoT in Transportation

IoT is revolutionizing the way we pay for transportation services. Smart cards and mobile apps allow commuters to pay for public transportation, parking, and tolls seamlessly, while IoT sensors monitor traffic and manage congestion.

5. Wearable Payments

Wearable devices equipped with payment technology, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, enable users to make payments without the need for physical cards or cash. These wearables offer a convenient and secure payment method.

6. Internet-Connected Appliances

Smart appliances and devices in the home can be connected to payment services, enabling automatic reordering of household supplies when items are running low. For example, a smart refrigerator can place an order for groceries when specific items are depleted.

7. IoT in Healthcare

The healthcare sector is using IoT for patient billing and insurance claims. IoT devices and sensors are used to monitor patient health, and payment transactions can be initiated automatically based on the care provided.

Benefits of IoT in Smart Payments

The integration of IoT in smart payments offers numerous advantages:

1. Convenience

IoT-enabled payment methods, such as contactless and mobile payments, are highly convenient, saving time and reducing the need for physical payment cards or cash.

2. Security

IoT payments often employ strong security measures, including encryption and tokenization, to protect financial data. The use of biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, further enhances security.

3. Efficiency

Smart payments streamline the payment process, reducing wait times and making transactions more efficient. This is particularly valuable in high-traffic retail settings.

4. Contactless Transactions

Contactless payments minimize physical contact between individuals and surfaces, a feature that has become especially relevant in times of public health concern.

5. Real-Time Transaction Tracking

IoT provides real-time transaction tracking and notification, ensuring users are immediately informed about any payment activities on their accounts.

6. Enhanced Personalization

IoT enables personalized offers, rewards, and discounts based on user behavior and preferences, making the payment experience more tailored.

Challenges and Considerations

While IoT in smart payments offers numerous benefits, it also poses challenges and considerations:

1. Data Security

The collection and transmission of sensitive payment data raise concerns about data security. Robust security measures must be in place to protect financial information.

2. Privacy

Users’ personal data must be treated with care, and consent for data collection and usage must be clearly established.

3. Standardization

IoT devices and systems must be compatible and standardized to ensure seamless data exchange and integration. Common protocols and standards are essential for achieving this.

4. Regulatory Compliance

IoT payment systems must adhere to regulatory requirements, particularly regarding data protection and financial transactions.

5. Adoption and Trust

The adoption of smart payment methods may require user education and a cultural shift in how people think about traditional payment methods.

The Future of IoT in Smart Payments

As technology continues to advance, the future of IoT in smart payments looks promising. Here are some trends and developments to watch for:

1. Enhanced Biometrics

The use of biometrics, such as fingerprint and facial recognition, for authentication and authorization will become more widespread, improving security and convenience.

2. Cross-Device Payments

IoT will enable payments to seamlessly move across devices. For example, a user may initiate a payment on a smartwatch and complete it on a smartphone or vice versa.

3. Voice-Activated Payments

Voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant will support voice-activated payments, making it easier for users to complete transactions using only their voice commands.

4. Digital Currencies

IoT will play a significant role in the adoption of digital currencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which can streamline international transactions and reduce currency conversion costs.

5. Augmented Reality (AR)

AR will enhance the in-store shopping experience, allowing users to virtually try on products and make purchases through immersive, interactive interfaces.

Conclusion

The Internet of Things is driving the evolution of smart payments, offering enhanced convenience, security, and efficiency. Challenges related to data security, privacy, and adoption must be addressed to ensure that the benefits of IoT in smart payments are fully realized.

As IoT technology continues to advance, it will remain a driving force in smart payments, offering a glimpse into a future where payment transactions are seamless, secure, and tailored to individual preferences, significantly transforming the way we handle our finances and make purchases.

The post Transforming Transactions: The Internet of Things (IoT) in Smart Payments appeared first on IoT Business News.

Function is extended to include IoT products and solutions to deliver efficiencies and confidence across the payment ecosystem.

Global technical body EMVCo has confirmed its security evaluation methodologies and processes support IoT payment use cases, enabling emerging solutions and devices to be evaluated quickly and efficiently.

Device hardware evaluations are playing an increasingly important role in IoT assessments across various IoT payment use cases, security frameworks and emerging compliance models. EMVCo, in collaboration with globally recognised independent laboratories, has worked since 2005 to evaluate the security of various EMV® hardware form factors and acts as a security certification entity. This function is now extended to IoT products and solutions. In addition to hardware product certification, EMVCo also delivers software security assessments of various interfaces and payment security functional requirements of IoT products.

“The IoT is creating new ways to pay, with payment functionality enabled across various industries globally,” comments Bruce Rutherford, Chair of the EMVCo Executive Committee.

“This innovation needs to be balanced with functionality, usability and security. By optimising existing processes to support new IoT payment use cases, EMVCo brings efficiencies and confidence to the IoT payment ecosystem, and an established framework of payment expertise.”

The post EMVCo Supports Security Evaluation for IoT Products appeared first on IoT Business News.

• The two companies plan to integrate Sprint’s Curiosity IoT platform and Wirecard unified commerce solutions to serve global clients
• The collaboration focuses on the retail segment, with plans to expand to other industries and services
• The collaboration has been facilitated in strategic alignment with SoftBank Investment Advisers

Sprint, a leading US communications services company and Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, today at CES 2020 announced a new relationship that will integrate Wirecard unified commerce solutions into Sprint’s Curiosity Internet of Things (IoT) platform to deliver the “Internet of Payments”.

The announcement was made at CES 2020. The two companies, brought together by SoftBank Investment Advisers, are collaborating to embed payment capabilities in IoT deployments, bringing added value to enterprise clients on a global scale.

Sprint’s Curiosity IoT platform represents a new standard in how enterprises manage and secure IoT devices and connectivity. The platform combines Curiosity Core, the first dedicated, distributed and virtualized IoT network, with Curiosity OS, an integrated IoT operating system, to bring networks to data collection sites and enable the future of commerce.

Worldwide IoT market revenue reached USD 212 billion in 2019, with worldwide expenditure projected to reach USD 1 trillion by 2022¹. Total, worldwide IoT connected devices are projected to reach 75.44 billion by 2025, a fivefold increase from 2015².

Wirecard unified commerce solutions drive the digital transformation of retail by delivering a seamless payment experience across channels and beyond borders. Sprint is integrating these capabilities into Curiosity IoT, and the companies are jointly exploring opportunities across various market segments, as part of a broader collaboration.

Sprint and Wirecard will initially focus on the retail segment, in which they are working to define and deliver the retail experience of the future, across all channels, with a unified commerce approach. The joint capabilities enable merchants to meet current and future customer expectations with an intelligent, connected buying experience.

“We’re pleased to integrate Wirecard solutions into our robust IoT platform,” said Ivo Rook, senior vice president, IoT & product development for Sprint. “This opens up many commercial opportunities, and also delivers an unparalleled commerce solution for our global clients and their customers.” He continued, “As IoT becomes even more central to how enterprises run, we look forward to identifying new opportunities and use cases for these technologies.”

“The growing internet of things will lead to new and innovative transactions, like directly between devices, and this collaboration will power such use cases.”

“Collaborating with Sprint is a tremendous opportunity to expand our collective reach and capabilities, plus meet a growing demand for commerce without barriers,” said Georg von Waldenfels, executive vice president of group business development at Wirecard. “Adding Wirecard unified commerce solutions to Sprint’s game-changing IoT technology is a significant step toward developing the shopping experience of the future and we look forward to all the possibilities this cooperation offers us.”

The post Sprint And Wirecard Drive New Innovation In IoT And Unified Commerce To Deliver The Internet Of Payments appeared first on IoT Business News.

The World’s First Connected, Secured Payment Card – Already Backed by Major Banks Like Emirates NBD – is Enabled by Curiosity IoT for Connectivity, Remote Device Management, and Data Intelligence.

Sprint’s Curiosity IoT is enabling connectivity, over-the-air device management and intelligent data capabilities for Dynamics’ Wallet Card – the world’s first connected payment card – as millions of consumers around the world begin to change the way they manage payment accounts and shop.

Already adopted by major global financial institutions, the Wallet Card will operate with seamless connectivity through Curiosity IoT, remote device management and instant intelligent data capabilities that benefit both banks and consumers alike.

“Dynamics Wallet Card connected by Curiosity IoT will shape the way individuals think about making purchases and managing multiple accounts, using a single digital card,” said Ivo Rook, senior vice president, IoT & product development at Sprint. “We’re proud that Dynamics has put its trust in our expertise and disruptive IoT technology, bringing Curiosity IoT to life with Wallet Card.”

“Today, we are bringing the consumer closer to the bank, allowing banks to help customers like never before,” said Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics, Inc.

“With Wallet Card powered by Curiosity IoT, banks can now be seamlessly connected to their consumers to help them when they need it most.”

In the UAE, Emirates NBD continues to be one of the world’s most visionary banks and aims to revolutionize the payment experience using Wallet Card and Curiosity IoT.

“Emirates NBD is bringing some of the leading card technologies in the world to the UAE to provide customers with added value and convenience, making their banking lives simpler. With the Wallet Card powered by Sprint Curiosity IoT, our customers will soon be able to subscribe to new cards and manage their existing ones with unprecedented levels of choice, flexibility, and security never offered before in the UAE,” said Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President & Group Head – Retail Banking & Wealth Management at Emirates NBD.

Global Connectivity. Intelligent Data. Unparalleled Security and Management.

• Worldwide Functionality: Wallet Cards will be able to travel around the world seamlessly through Curiosity’s connectivity-agnostic design and ease of use.
• Over-the-Air Device Management, Security and Intelligent Data: Curiosity’s IoT-dedicated network, built together with a purpose-engineered operating system, is unmatched in enabling the management of millions of Wallet Cards remotely. Connectivity will permit users to interact with the cards in new ways and experience enhanced user experiences while providing a number of a number of new security features enabled by the IoT connectivity.
• Wallet Card technology and benefits: Dynamics’ Wallet Card is a full telecommunications platform in the same size and shape as a normal credit or debit card. With almost 200 internal components, the device incorporates a number of cutting-edge technologies like:
• Cell phone chip and antenna
• Battery and organic recharging chip
• Card-programmable magnetic stripe, EMV chip and contactless chip
• 65,000 pixel display and user interface

The global expansion of Dynamics’ Wallet Card powered by Curiosity IoT is part of an expanding solutions portfolio from Sprint. Focused on connecting people, places and things, Sprint Business can transform and manage an entire organization’s information systems operation to make doing business easier and smarter – from SMBs, enterprises to government organizations. Powerful converged solutions leverage Sprint’s mobile solutions, a world-class wireline network that connects more than 195 countries, leading IT management features and the ground-breaking Curiosity IoT platform to take on the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

The post World’s First Connected, Secured Payment Card Enabled by Sprint’s Curiosity™ IoT appeared first on IoT Business News.

Start-ups and established companies alike are increasingly interested in the industrial internet of things (IIoT), but many are missing a trick when it comes to payments. Businesses face many challenges when designing and implementing their own IoT payments solutions, most notably serious security risks and a lack of interoperability – and just one slip up could have a serious impact on a business.

So why risk it?

Traditional industries, like manufacturing, have the highest growth potential for IoT payments¹. These sectors continue to rely on outdated, inefficient and insecure ways to manage their finances, so are ripe for an overhaul². The immediately obvious benefits are operational. Specific stock levels, for example, could be set to trigger alerts in smart factories that tell the system to not just order more of those components from their supplier, but to automatically pay for them.

Automating payments increases efficiency by freeing up resources. Time intensive (and tedious) paperwork associated with procurement, such as invoice reconciliation, call-off delivery notes and future batch ordering, can be processed with minimal human intervention and maximum accuracy.

There’s also improved operational visibility. When using an integrated, stakeholder agnostic payments platform, digital payment issuance and acceptance is simplified and data about past and incoming transactions can be captured, stored and processed in real-time. This increases payment flexibility and reduces the cost of transactions.

Going beyond operations, there are strategic benefits to improving industrial payments processes too (using for example an automatic invoice generator). Late payments continue to be a major issue for businesses around the world, with one in ten invoices being paid late at a cost of $3 trillion a year³. Moving away from traditional invoicing methods to automated digital supply chain payments ensures that transactions are processed quickly and on time – improving buyer-supplier relationships.

Done right, IoT payments can add significant strategic and operational value to a business. As more and more companies identify these benefits, many are diving in at the deep end and rushing to build their own industrial IoT payments systems, thinking it will bring them competitive advantage. In fact, this is more likely to bring about their downfall.

Flying solo on security

Complying with continuously evolving industry regulations such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is crucial for merchants. Unless their payment systems are up to standard, they risk data breaches and fraud which can do irreparable damage to their brand and buyer relationships – not to mention heavy fines.

Compliance with these ever-changing regulations, however, is complex and expensive for businesses to achieve and maintain, requiring extensive penetration testing, hours of skilled developer time and ongoing changes to internal payment infrastructure. But as data breaches continue to cause national security concerns in the U.K. and across the world⁴, such as those that have led one of the world’s leading communications services companies to remove equipment from Chinese telecoms giants, Huawei, after concerns were raised about the Chinese firm’s presence in critical telecoms infrastructure⁵, it’s simply not worth the risk. Instead, integrating an independent stakeholder agnostic payments platform that meets these requirements, and, crucially, accepts responsibility for maintaining them, significantly minimises these risks.

Interoperable IoT payments with baked-in security also enable merchants to strengthen their client offering in two key ways. First, best of breed systems combine end-to-end data encryption with tokenization, replacing sensitive data with meaningless information. This reassures buyers that even if their payment information is intercepted, it is indecipherable, and therefore worthless.

Second, by placing the burden of payments interoperability on an independent platform provider, companies can scale quickly. Agnostic platforms enable acceptance of a large variety of payment methods, from credit and debit cards to purchasing cards and even alternative payment methods (APMs). This means that suppliers can work with more buyers, regardless of these clients’ payments infrastructures, instead of doing business with only a tiny fraction of the overall market.

In a better-connected world, why go alone?

It’s clear that a connected payments network can improve financial processes. That’s why more buyers are looking for innovative ways of paying their suppliers, as evidenced by the rise in tender documents enquiring about supplier payment acceptance. But for B2B merchants, ensuring they are accepting IoT payments as quickly, cost-effectively and securely as possible is a tricky path to navigate alone.

Before suppliers risk data breaches and operational inefficiency by creating an IoT payments solution from scratch, they should consider what is already out there. Tried and tested third-party payment platforms can bridge the gap between buyers and suppliers, reducing costs, improving efficiency and enhancing corporate relationships.

The post Invoicing in the IoT: why connections are key to maximising business value appeared first on IoT Business News.