Mobile Payment Types

MOBILE PAYMENTS

Learn about the different types of mobile payment tech

QR Codes - Quick Response Codes

The ubiquitous square blocks of digital information have been displacing older scanned code formats for several years. They can be found on anything from a cereal box to a display at a museum. The QR code does not require specialized scanners to read the 2 dimensional data encoded in the square. In fact, both iOS and Android natively support the ability to read QR codes from the mobile devices cameras. QR codes are quickly becoming the ideal solution for mobile payments. With the ability to easily incorporate the native camera into mobile apps combined with the ease of launching and scanning a QR code for payment more retailers are using the QR code as there own payment method. The QR code can be displayed on paper invoices or on screen displays.

Retailers like Kohls, Target, Walmart and several large grocery chains have incorporated the QR code into their apps. With in-store mobile payments on the rise expect to see more retailers add QR capabilities to their branded mobile applications driving consumer acceptance of the technology.

The primary draw back of the QR code is that is requires the app to be open to use it, that also happens to be why it is so popular with retailers. It brings people into their app and ties the payment and transaction to a specific user.

At the FBO, QR payments are ideal because of the versatility of the method. With the ability to display the code anywhere, a pilot could pay with his app from and invoice or remotely where the code can be displayed on the X-1PAY Point-of-Sale Terminal of even from within the X-1 SinglePoint app. The X-1PAY Point-of-Sale Terminal is capable of both reading and displaying QR codes.

NFC - Near-Field Communication

NFC or Near Field Communication is a wireless communication standard meant for short range, fast data transmission between two devices. One device is a transmitter and the other acts as a receiver. Typical range of NFC is about 4". The technology allows an almost instantaneous transfer of encrypted data for point-of-sales systems. The inclusion of NFC into mobile devices combined with it's speed and short range have made NFC a great alternative to magnetic stripes on traditional credit card plastic.

NFC is the technology behind the largest mobile payment gateways like Apple, Samsung and Google Pay. The drawbacks on NFC technology are that it requires both sides to have specialized devices capable of sending and receiving the signals. NFC increases the expense of back end systems and applications that support NFC.

For the FBO, using NFC would require the ability to read mobile devices capable of transmitting NFC. The X-1PAY Point-of-Sale Terminal is capable of reading NFC.

MST - Magnetic Secure Transmission

MST Technology has a range of 3" like NFC but it is not as available as NFC. What MST does is transmits a magnetic signal that can be read by traditional card readers. The technology is not widely adopted with the primary gateway using the technology being Samsung Pay. Samsung acquired the company that created the technology in 2017. Samsung uses a combination of MST and NFC technology in their devices. Only the sending device requires the capability.

While innovative and able to use existing card acceptance infrastructure, MTS is currently only on a limited number of devices. Importantly it is not used by Apple which commands a large share of mobile devices in the United States.

At the FBO, MST technology would work well when crew members have access to the existing card readers. Most FBOs keep the card readers behind the front desk. Once again the X-1PAY Point-of-Sale Terminal with its portability would be able to receive MST payments.

Remote Payments

Everyone at this point has used some type of remote payment technology. Whether you are entering your card details into a website to buy movie tickets are paying for a pizza online you've taken part in a remote payment. We are going to cover 3 types of remote payments and how they relate specifically to the FBO business.

Pay by Email - With Pay by email a customer is sent a link that allows them to view and pay an invoice from anywhere they have an internet connection. For a Pay by email link the customer would click the link and be taken to a web page with the invoice. They can enter card or bank information into the page to complete the payment on the invoice and instantly get a receipt for the transaction. Interestingly, the QR code can be incorporated into the email for payment, allowing the user to bypass entering the card information.

Pay by Text - Just like pay by email the customer is sent a link, this time via an SMS message that again takes them to a mobile page where they add payment details and complete the transaction.

In App Payments - In this case of an In App Payment, it could originate from either an email or SMS message. In the case of an In App payment the link opens the corresponding app on the phone. This allows the customer to use their previously stored payment methods to quickly pay invoice.