MDM Bank launches single-tap mobile payments; OpenWay provides tech
Just tap and pay
One of Russia’s major banking players, MDM Bank, has rolled out a single-tap Mastercard Contactless mobile payments option. The service is underpinned by the WAY4 Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology from OpenWay.
MDM Bank’s customers can now pay from their Mastercard account with no need to enter a password or PIN code or even activate the app before making a payment, says OpenWay. They just unlock their phone via a PIN or a fingerprint and tap it to a contactless reader.
The service is currently available only on smartphones running Android 4.4 and higher with NFC support.
It runs in offline mode and is optional for customers, the vendor emphasises. Mandatory authentication to confirm a payment can still be set up in the app, if required.
Pavel Mikhalyov, director of the development of mobile services department at MDM Bank, notes that there are only “a few banks in Russia” that have deployed HCE technology for mobile payments.
“MDM Bank’s solution allows clients to make purchases without starting the app and without the device being connected to the internet,” he says. “HCE technology allowing contactless payment is going to be everywhere: to pay for public transportation, as an access pass for work, school or university. Trends in the development of mobile payment services will only help spread this type of technology.”
Elsewhere, OpenWay has helped B1NK, a digital banking subsidiary of Capital Bank Kazakhstan, to launch the region’s first chat and payments bot – using Telegram Messenger.
