How To Pay With Your Mobile Safely?

Would you like to go shopping and pay with your mobile safely, minimizing the risks of any threat or cyber attack? The mobile phone has become an essential device in our lives, and using it safely is necessary to extend its use in certain activities that are carried out with it daily.

To pay with the mobile, the phone must have an integrated wireless communication chip, called NFC, which allows the exchange of data between two devices. Although payment through this technology is booming, many questions still arise about how to use it safely. This post explains how to pay with your mobile, if it is safe and what apps you need to use it.

What is NFC?

NFC stands for Near-Field Communication. NFC is a short-range, high-frequency wireless communication technology to exchange data between two nearby devices. Since its radius of action is only 15 cm, the two devices must be very close for the transfer.

Although this technology has been present in mobile devices since 2006, it was not until 2011 that Google saw its full potential by incorporating it into its second Nexus, the Samsung Nexus S, a device designed by Google and manufactured by Samsung. As for Apple devices, the first iPhone to feature this technology was the iPhone 6, released in 2014, coinciding with the year the Apple Pay application was launched.

Currently, most mobile phones have NFC technology. To find out if your mobile has it, you can consult it in the manufacturer’s user manual or the settings of your terminal in the “Connections” section.

Secure mobile payment apps

There are many applications to pay with the mobile. Those known as X-Pay are virtual wallets or wallets in which you can add multiple cards to make contactless payments with your device.

Google Pay is one of the most popular mobile payment applications. It is a Google app and is available on all phones that have Android as the operating system. As indicated on its official website, Google Pay has robust security measures that protect your account and personal information from any cyber attack or virtual threat. In addition, the card details are never shared with the merchant, making it a fast, convenient and secure way to pay with your mobile in thousands of establishments. Add a credit or debit card to the app and start using it. If you want to know what bank cards it supports, you can check it on the Google Pay support page.

Technology Manufacturer Apps

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is a mobile payment app for Apple devices. It’s as easy to use as Google Pay. Configure a credit or debit card in the wallet by entering its number manually or placing it in front of the phone’s camera to scan it and start using it. Apple Pay is built into iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad and is enabled for use on millions of websites and stores worldwide.

According to Apple, paying with its mobile payment app is entirely safe. Every time you transact with Apple Pay, the app will ask you to verify your identity by fingerprint recognition (Touch ID) or facial recognition (Face ID). Apple Pay uses a unique transaction code, so your bank card information isn’t visible to or shared with merchants or stored on Apple servers.

Samsung Pay

Samsung Pay is the payment app for smartphones and smartwatches of this brand. It is as easy to use as the previous ones. You can safely store the receipts of the last ten purchases and add loyalty cards such as the Repsol card and the Travel Club.

Security and convenience are also strong points in the Samsung Pay app. You only need your iris or fingerprint to authenticate the payment, avoiding entering the card PIN in each transaction. In addition, if you have a Samsung device, you will enjoy a significant advantage: for each purchase, you will receive Samsung Rewards points that you can redeem for exclusive gifts. And if you have a Galaxy Watch and have forgotten your phone at home, you can make purchases with your smartwatch simply by bringing your wrist closer to the dataphone.

Other manufacturers such as Xiaomi or Huawei have their mobile payment apps, Mi Pay and Huawei Pay, although they are unavailable.

Phone carrier apps

The first telephone operator to launch a mobile payment system was Vodafone, which, thanks to an agreement with Visa, presented its Vodafone Wallet app in 2013. After five years on the market and due to the complexity of keeping up with the progress of other mobile payment alternatives, such as banks or Google and Apple, Vodafone stopped offering this service.

Apps of financial institutions

Central banks have also developed their mobile payment applications. Santander bank was a pioneer in launching its virtual wallet called Santander Wallet, followed by BBVA. Although it initially launched its BBVA Wallet app, it ended up integrating this mobile payment functionality into the bank’s general app. Many banks have chosen to incorporate this option into their portfolio of services.

P2P payment applications, pay to another mobile or from person to person

P2P payments (peer-to-peer or person-to-person) are a form of mobile payment that does not require NFC technology or a contactless device. To pay with a P2P payment system, it is enough to know the mobile phone of the person or business to which you want to make the payment or transfer. These virtual payment apps are being adopted more and more by users thanks to their ease of use and the security guarantees they offer.

Tips to pay safely with your mobile

The mobile payment applications you can find in the official app stores (Google Play and App Store) have implemented strong security measures to protect users’ financial information against possible attacks and threats. Paying with a mobile phone is currently one of the most reliable forms of payment since, to carry out any operation, it is necessary to unlock the device’s screen and, in some cases, confirm the transaction.

However, at techeminds, as technology specialists, we share some recommendations to guarantee the protection of your bank accounts without giving up the convenience of paying with your mobile:

• Do not download applications that do not come from manufacturers, operators or official entities.
• If your mobile phone is stolen, act as if your wallet had been stolen: contact your bank and deactivate the cards.
• Enter a form of authentication, be it a biometric system, a very secure PIN, or a complicated pattern.
• Keep your phone’s operating system updated to avoid security breaches.
• Download an antivirus.
• Deactivate NFC if you are not using it or if you are going to give your phone to a third party, for example, technical service for repair.
• Always connect to private networks or, if they are public, password-protected

We hope that this article has been helpful for you to learn about the many ways and advantages of paying with your mobile. If you want to be up to date on technology, we invite you to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

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