IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - April 2017 - 82

payment and identity needs. The invention expands upon the
concept of NFC-based communication and biometric security
to eliminate the need for expensive NFC-based smartphones.
Using the inbuilt magnetic strip, the card can also work as a
traditional automated teller machine (ATM) card. The advantage of this card is that the card cannot be used without first
scanning the finger of the user; as such, it provides more security than traditional ATM cards.
Seamless launched a QR code-based mobile payment
called SEQR. This system defines some QR codes through
which users can directly pay for their purchases using their
mobile phones. When a customer scans a QR code at the cash
register, an authorization is given to the retailer to draw the
amount from his or her bank or payment account; customers
are not charged fees by the financial institution for these transactions. Cash registers having cashier integration as well as a
unique code with the Seamless ER 360° platform can send the
total amount of the transaction directly to the customer's handset for authorization, and the authorized sum will automatically be withdrawn directly from the customer's account [30].
In [31], a mobile wallet based on QR code is proposed, as
is increased system security using the public-key and privatekey techniques. A P2P-based application is presented in [32]
that defines the use of NFC and Bluetooth technologies for
money transfers between mobile devices. In [33], another
application of the secure P2P-based NFC micropayment system is devised for Android mobile phones. It defines mobileto-POS micropayment services with the required hardware.
Also, a cloud computing-based NFC payment management
system is available in which the payment process through
NFC can be controlled using cloud computing.
Bluetooth is another widely used wireless technology. A
P2P mobile payment system known as P2P-Paid was proposed to define a wireless payment system for mobile users
using Bluetooth communications that allows related secured
transactions with the server [34]. Another payment system
incorporating an NFC and Bluetooth bridge was described in
[35], where Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices communicate
with NFC-enabled consumer services. This system consists of
an NFC-Bluetooth bridge and a software driver program. The
NFC-Bluetooth bridge is an electronic device having two air
interfaces: a Bluetooth air interface that establishes a wireless
connectivity with Bluetooth devices and an NFC air interface
that establishes the wireless connectivity with NFC devices.
The driver is a software program that expedites communication between the NFC devices and Bluetooth. A taxonomybased representation of different studies on the subject is
shown in Figure 5. Based on these contactless technologies,
industry has shown increasing interest in mobile payments.

Users open an account in Google Wallet by linking their
debit or credit cards with their mobile number; they can then
access their Wallet using a four-digit personal ID number.
The physical Google Wallet card can be used as a normal
payment card at ATM or POS terminals. This app does not
have an access charge. Google protects user data by storing
it on a secure server. In 2015, Google launched the Android
Pay app, which is based on Google Wallet [12].

APPLE PAY
As the name suggests, Apple Pay is the mobile payment system
of Apple Inc. Launched in 2014 with the iPhone 6 mobile,
Apple Pay uses NFC technology [36]; all Apple devices with
this capability, including the iPad Air 2, iPad Pro, iPad Mini 3,
Apple Watch, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, can be used for payment purposes. To use this app, it is not necessary to have any
Apple-Pay-specific contactless payment terminals; it can be
used with any contactless terminals. The service secures the
customer's payment information by creating dynamic security
codes for each transaction. With the POS payment, users must
authenticate their fingerprint on the Apple device. Apple disclosed that in the first three days of launching the Apple Pay
app, more than 1 million credit cards were registered, which
indicates strong interest worldwide in cashless payment.

PAYPAL
PayPal is a worldwide payment system launched by PayPal
Holdings Inc. in 1999, and this electronic money transfer method
has since been replacing checks and money orders. In 2015, PayPal launched the PayPal.Me payment platform using P2P mode,
which permits the customer to send a unique link for requesting
funds via several messaging methods [37]. PayPal uses a security
key system for user account access; the user logs in with a username and password and then enters a six-digit code received via
text message for an additional layer of security.

SAMSUNG PAY
Samsung Pay is an online payment system that enables mobile
payments using Samsung devices (Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6
Edge Plus, Galaxy S6 Edge, and Galaxy S6). It was first launched
in South Korea and the United States in 2015. This app can be
used by Samsung's NFC-enabled mobile devices and POS terminals using patented MST technology [38]. In matters of security, it works much the same as Google Wallet and Apple Pay. In
addition to these more popular payment apps, several more apps
are currently in use, including LoopPay (now owned by Samsung), Tilt, Square Cash, Venmo, Dwolla, Tab, Level Up, and
Blockchain [39]. Figure 6 shows the user acceptance rate of major payment apps around the world.

GOOGLE WALLET

SPECIFIC METHODOLOGY: MOBILE APPLICATION

Google Wallet is a payment app launched by Google in 2011
in the United States. The app works in the P2P mode of
NFC; it allows the user to process mobile payments by storing debit, credit, and gift card information. This app can also
be used through Gmail or a physical Google Wallet card.

As payment technologies are being converted to Internet-based
services, hacking has become a major threat. While developing a
payment technology, it is necessary to focus on security. Figure 7
describes the proposed Pay-Cloak system. In this proposed methodology, we have tried to increase security by employing user

82 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

APRIL 2017

http://www.PayPal.Me

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - April 2017