YES Bank mobile wallet now uses sound waves to let you make payments

YES Bank has tied up with ToneTag, a company that uses sound waves to allow data transfer, thereby letting users make payments even when they are offline.

YES Bank and the "proximity communication company" ToneTag, have tied hands to allow for "sound-based contactless payments on the YES Pay mobile wallet, a statement said.

The technology will enable wallet users to make cardless payments at merchants through their mobile phone without the usage of data.

The Bengaluru-based mobile payments' solution company uses a patented Software Development Kit (SDK) which only needs a speaker and a microphone to transfer data. "It can utilise the in-built mic or speaker of any device to enable data transfer through soundwaves and hence it supports most existing devices such as PCS, POS, EDC devices and mobile phones including feature phones and wearables."

"The only prerequisite is the integration of the ToneTag SDK at both merchant (POS or Mobile devices) and customer interaction points (Mobile apps)," it said. The SDK also boasts of features like noise filters, three-level encryption, tokenisation, cryptography, and multi-factor authentication, to ensure security, ToneTag added.

"Payments through ToneTag allow businesses to streamline their checkout process by providing a seamless transaction experience for both the customer and the retailers," it said.

YES Bank's senior president and country head, Ritesh Pai, said, "Contactless payments based on sound tones is something we haven't seen before...As IoT (Internet of Things) sees greater investment, consumers will become increasingly reliant on contactless payments.

"We are bullish about our alliance with ToneTag as we continue to strike in making payments seamless for end users," he added.

Yes Bank