Leave your wallet at home, you won’t need it anymore. Naratte, a company based out of Sunnyvale, California, has found a way to pay for things through a small app. The best part is, no expensive chip is needed, and any device with mp3 playback can do it. That is nearly the entire mobile market already.
Many big companies, such as Google, has been experimenting with mobile transactions for quite some time using near-field communications or NFC. However, the downside to that technology is that most phones don’t have the necessary hardware to use it. Naratte created a technology, known as Zoosh, that uses a high-frequency sound to pay. All that is required are two devices with Zoosh-enabled apps or a dedicated reader that could be connected to a store’s checkout terminal.
It works by the devices exchanging encoded ID tokens in an ultrasound frequency for them to identify one another. After a secure link has been made, transfers and payments can be made as safe as it is easy. The transactions can be anything from debit, credit and even cash.
The technology can also be used to transfer information to one another. You can exchange contact information literally at the speed of sound.
Thanks to the push for higher quality audio-playback and the fact that every mobile device doubles as an mp3 player, Zoosh has become a very real possibility. All that is required is a microphone and speaker, which is already part of every mobile phone.
Many people don’t have smart phones and are unable to download apps. Zoosh works with these as well through audio-embedded text messages. Nobody is left in the dark when it comes to the new technology.
The technology is still in a fairly infant state, but with some major backing and a one up on the larger competition, there is no doubt that Zoosh will take off. The accessibility, safety and ease of use are all prime ways of being the next big thing when it comes to giving up your money.
Check out these other ways to pay via mobile phone with Intuit and MobilePay.
Via TechnologyReview
