The ability to pay by phone instead of a credit card

The content of the article

• What is contactless payment by phone
• NFC technology
• Which banks support NFC
• Phone billing feature
• Applications for payment via NFC
• How to set up NFC for card payments
• Download card to phone
• Card management
• CardsMobile Wallet App
• Payment by smartphone as a card
• Where contactless payments are accepted
• How to pay by phone in the store
• Card replenishment

A couple of years ago, the cell phone was only an apparatus for calls and SMS, but times are changing, and today you can surf the Internet using your mobile phone, listen to music, transfer files via email, take photos and much more. Going to the store, now you can also take a smartphone, because thanks to the mobile application, it has become easy to pay by phone, attaching it to the terminal instead of a card.

What is contactless payment by phone

In order to understand how the payment process is going, it’s worth understanding contactless technologies. Payment card – a piece of plastic with a microprocessor sewn into it. Banking institutions purchase blanks from the manufacturer and scan the information on a chip. The mobile phone also has a chip, so you can write down the customer’s payment data on it. This means that the cell phone itself can be a means of payment, the same as a contactless credit card. Perhaps this is due to the use of the NFC system, which is something akin to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

NFC technology

To exchange information between the payment terminal and the smartphone, Near field communication is used, in short NFC – short-range communication technology. It helps to exchange information at a short distance of approximately 4 cm. A distinctive feature of NFC technology is that there is no need to enter passwords and logins each time. It is only necessary to lean the devices against each other and payment by phone instead of a card will be completed. This technology is used in the production of transport cards..

Which banks support NFC

One of the first banking institutions that introduced mobile payments instead of cards for customers was Sberbank, since the lion’s share of credit card users is its share. The next to bring NFC to use was Alfa Bank. True, they worked with Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. After the release of the Android application, they launched the gadget payment service and other banks:

• VTB 24;
• AK Bars;
• Binbank
• Opening;
• Rocketbank;
• Dot;
• MTS Bank;
• Promsvyazbank;
• Raiffeisenbank;
• Russian Agricultural Bank;
• Russian standard;
• Tinkoff.

Phone billing feature

To be able to pay by phone instead of a card, an NFC chip must be present there. In older models, in addition to this, there must be a Secure Element microprocessor, where the data of the payment application is recorded. The chip can be integrated into the motherboard or located on a SIM card or memory card. Thanks to the introduction of the Host Card Emulation (HCE) function in new phones, data on plastic cards can be stored directly in the application.

Which smartphone models have a preinstalled version

If the previously pre-installed version of the program, with which it is possible to pay by phone instead of a card, was found only in some models, at the present stage the owners of any smartphones with the FNC function can safely leave their wallet at home. For shopping, restaurants, cafes, you just need to take a cell phone with you, though you definitely need to pay attention to whether a terminal accepting contactless payment is installed at the point of sale.

Applications for payment via NFC

Before paying with a phone instead of a card, you need to install a special application that will help to attach a credit card to a mobile one. Today there are several of them, so there are many things to choose from:

• Yandex money. The application is installed on the gadget, after which you need to go to the menu and select the “Contactless payments” section. A virtual MasterCard will be available to the user, and a pin code will be received on the phone, which will be necessary to pay for goods and services worth over 1000 rubles or withdraw cash from ATMs.
• Visa QIWI Wallet. First you need to download the application to your phone and attach it to your smartphone. To do this, you need a code that will be sent to the user via SMS. After that, the owner must come up with a password that will protect the payment system. To pay, you only need to unlock the phone screen, and when buying for more than 1000 rubles, put a signature on the check or even enter the code.
• Purse. Bank cards. Installed on a smartphone from Google Play and works on gadgets with Android 4.4 and higher.
• Samsung Pay. The application is installed on the phones of the company. In addition to the fact that payment by NFC is possible, users also received MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission). If the first one works only with terminals that accept contactless payment, the second one works with everyone through which you can pay with magnetic stripe cards, because it creates a “similar signal” in its work.
• Apple pay. The service integrated into the Wallet application allows all users of gadgets issued by Apple to use them in payments through contactless payment terminals and online in some online stores.

How to set up NFC for card payments

For users of Android phones, to enable the NFC function, you need to enter the menu and select the “Wireless Networks” section. There you need to select the “NFC” subcategory and activate the module. In this case, the Android Beam function is activated automatically, accelerating the application. If this does not happen, you need to activate it yourself. For owners of Windows phones, in the “Settings” section, select the “Devices” category, where to activate the NFC function.

Download card to phone

It will not be difficult to bind the card to the selected application, since already upon identification the user will be prompted to enter the data. It is worth considering that some applications, such as, for example, Yandex. Money, release and offer to use their own virtual card. Summing up, we can say that NFC-payment by phone is possible with an existing MasterCard PayPass or VISA PayWave credit card, as well as a virtual one, which is issued after installing the application.

Card management

Applications allow users of smartphones IPhone, Samsung, HTC, LG and others to associate different cards. If necessary, you can delete the data of the old credit card and make new ones. For iPhone owners, the default payment is the first credit card entered. If other cards have been entered, then in the application it is necessary to indicate the one that is a priority.

CardsMobile Wallet App

In 2015, the “Wallet” application was released in Russia (the “Cloudy” beta version of the application is called “Wallet. Bank Cards”), which is built-in initially in some smartphone models. Now it can be downloaded from Google Play absolutely free of charge and can be used on mobile with Android operating system version 4.4 and higher. After registration, you must select one of the cards of the proposed institutions and fill in certain data. The owner of the phone can use the conditions of prepaid credit cards of banks Tinkoff, Russian Standard, St. Petersburg.

Payment by smartphone as a card

You can upload several cards to one gadget at once. Payment by card via phone is completely safe and takes place via secure channels. It is impossible to steal such a credit card, no one sees either the pin code or details. When using the touch calculation method, the terminal does not use card data, but only a digital code that is safe even with the possibility of fraud, because it does not carry any information. Paying by phone instead of a card does not require an Internet connection, which is an advantage when using it instead of a credit card abroad.

Where contactless payments are accepted

Contactless payment technology is convenient. A phone with an NSF can be used in shopping facilities when paying for purchases. It is easy for them to pay in restaurants, for travel by aeroexpress and at the box office. You can pay for goods or services wherever there is a real possibility of making transactions on contactless payment terminals. If the Samsung Pay application is activated, the possibility of paying with the touch of a phone instead of a credit card increases, since the operation can be performed with almost any terminal, not only in Moscow, but throughout the country, and even abroad.

How to pay by phone in the store

Before you pay with a phone with NFC, you must run this same module in it by going to the smartphone menu. If the program requires, then you need to activate the program using the previously entered code. Approaching the terminal, turn on the screen and bring the smartphone to the reader. All transactions up to 1000 r. automatically paid, all others will require the introduction of a payment password or confirmation of the operation by signature.

Card replenishment

Payment through NFC requires a positive balance on the card. For this reason, it is necessary to replenish the account. You can do this in the application itself using a plastic card of other banks or through special services of banking institutions. Instead of plastic, international payment systems vouch for the safety of the process of using a cell phone, and funds are credited quickly – in a few minutes.