Not too long ago, I was chatting to a big gun at one of the big payment gateway systems and whilst we were chatting, we spoke about paying with mobile devices and so forth. I’ve just spotted an interesting new service called Square.
“Read payment cards from any device with an audio input jack, including your mobile phone. Accepting payments has never been faster or more convenient.”
A picture if worth a 1000 words ..
This is innovation at its best!
Click here to read more on their website.
Currently credit card transactions are processed using a secure proprietary single service device over a encrypted purpose installed network. Like hell, I would let some random person swipe my card on his/her iphone.
Besides this tech is already outdated, Almost all swiping these days requires two way authentication. i.e. chip & pin. Even if the customer is the type of person to let some random swipe your card on a programmable device, they couldn’t in their right mind enter their pin on it?
Integrating aging technology with new processes rarely works. It’s new tech allowing for updated processes that creates innovation. Sadly new tech in large established industry (banking) is always glacially slow.
If anything, these smaller card reader attached to a normal cellphone sounds like a boon to skimmers. Normally they are caught because they have to carry a purpose built skimmer, now they can just use their phones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_fraud#Skimming
and yes, I should be working but it’s past 4pm already…