HDFC Bank will soon be introducing a facility for its customers whereby they will be able to use sound from their handsets at card swipe machines to make payments. It has tied up with Bengaluru-based Tone Tag, a company providing phone-based proximity payment service that does not require any special handsets or new acceptance device. The technology eliminates the need for a card. Customers can digitize their information in the cards and pay by just tapping on the screen. There are three levels of encryption possible in the system and it uses tokens to relay information instead of the credit card number. HDFC Bank will update its Payzapp mobile application to enable the technology and implement a software patch on the PoS terminals for generating and receiving data from tones. At the time of transaction, the merchant will have to punch in the amount as he does in the case of a credit or debit card and the customer then will have to hold his mobile phone in front of the device. The terminal will then send a signal to the phone seeking authorization for the amount in the mobile app. The customer will have to just authorize the payment on the screen. The payment is then made.
