Visa, Philips offer wireless payment solution

It is payment without tears and without contact, thanks to a new technology Philips Semiconductor and Visa International are showcasing at the Consumer Electronics Show. Known as Near Field Communication, the protocol will allow consumers to pay for goods and services with their handsets, personal digital assistants and other devices at any transaction terminal. This works with the buyer’s Visa card, which leverages Visa’s Verified by Visa technology. Philips will provide the chips, while Visa will bring its large pool of customers. “In one scenario, music lovers can download the right to listen to a song to their PDA or their Visa payment card either by holding the PDA near a smart poster of their favorite Universal Music pop star or by holding their contactless Visa card near a kiosk selling songs,” the companies said. This protocol uses radio frequency identification technology to capture information from the card and transfer the rights to be stored in the Visa Smart Card Storage, the technology on which the Verified by Visa is based.NFC is a short-range technology and operates in at 13.56 MHz. It enables interaction between wireless devices within 10 centimeters. The companies believe the technology can change the way digital content and services are distributed, accessed and transacted.