Many opportunities to come in contact with technologies not yet available

At PayPal, I have a lot of opportunities to get in touch with technologies that are not yet available, some of which we have developed ourselves, and others that have been developed by companies in various other fields. I spent as much time as I could to study these new technologies outside of the corporate business, and work with my colleagues to paint the picture of the future. Recently, I've found three technologies that could really subvert the traditional retail payment experience.

Bluetooth Low Energy Hair

I have written related articles in the past. The development and application of Low-power Bluetooth (Bluetooth low energy, BLE) chips will encourage the retail industry to create a very accurate, fast and secure shopping payment experience based on location and scenario.

PayPal firmly supports BLE technology and publishes PayPal Beacon using ble technology for mobile payment hardware devices. PayPal Beacon and other products, it is connected to the Internet, customers pay the entire process does not require the user to take out the phone operation, even if the phone signal is poor or even no signal can be completed payment.

Most of the time, we shouldn't line up at a designated place, we should take what we want, and then we can leave. The combination of beacon technology with our 150 million users will facilitate the large-scale promotion of this technology.

NFC HCE

For the past few years, I've always said that near-field communications (Near field COMMUNICATION,NFC) technologies that are designed and used by their own interests, do not address the needs of users, are not a matter of doing things. Each year, these manufacturers announce to the media in the Global Mobile Communications Conference (CONGRESS,MWC) that there will be a breakthrough in NFC technology next. Every year, I say that NFC is not going to be the mainstream. So far, I have been right. Operators, banks, OEMs and various associations are not able to unite, each with their own plans. I don't want to get involved.

The crux of the problem is the security element of the NFC technology. Security components, as the name suggests, should be to ensure the security of property information. The problem is that everyone is fighting to control the security components because controlling the costs of each transaction. This has led to endless battles between financial institutions, OEMs and operators. This is the main reason why Google Wallet's NFC technology can only operate on the sprint network. Other operators want to promote their own solution--isis (intermediate system to intermediate system).

But at the end of last year, things turned around. Google's Android team is starting to support and drive another standard called NFC HCE (Host card emulation) (not just for payment). The beauty of this standard is that it does not require the entire industry to fight to control security components. The Android team approached us and wanted to know what we thought about implementing the project. This is the first time I've seen the hope of using NFC in the shopping process. You can pay for whatever you need, whether it's a row of supermarket shelves or an Apple experience store.

With regard to NFC HCE, there are two points to pay attention to, one is the rapid development of EMV, this is the international financial community for chip credit card and cash payment system related to the hardware and software set standards, named from the Europay, MasterCard and Visa three major international organizations English initials. The new chip card will make NFC technology more feasible in 2016 years. The second event to be concerned is visa's acceptance of HCE technology. The security measures used in this technique are somewhat different: we don't share your financial information when you're shopping.

I've had serious doubts about NFC technology, but I'm cautiously optimistic about the future of NFC HCE shopping in a particular scenario. But I still firmly believe that by BLE beacon Technology, not to shop and close to the business through Bluetooth reminders, consumers and retailers will bring great changes in the shopping experience.

Smart watches and wearable equipment

The world we live in is full of notices and reminders. All kinds of apps do their best every day to get our attention. And I've been using smart watches for a while and I've found that this is the best device for managing and replying to various messages. For example, we tested at a nearby Starbucks and deployed a signal to use the apps specifically designed for the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear fit devices, and when you walk into Starbucks, you get a reminder that the waiter will greet you with a smile and shout out your name. Because their system has already shown your photos and information. Another reminder on your smart watch will be paid at the checkout, and you'll need to click Confirmation to complete the payment process. This is the biggest change in the payment experience I have ever experienced. I don't need a wallet, my cell phone is always in my pocket, and I can still control everything.

Over the next two years, I'm sure we'll see more and better smart watches on the market (maybe this year we'll see a market-shattering product?). I now believe that the Swiss watch industry is going to be in trouble, which makes me uncomfortable because I am a big fan of Switzerland's elegant electronic watch. But if the watch industry does not take it as soon as possible, smart watches will create a strong hurricane that hits the market. All smart watches will be equipped with BLE, and some will have NFC, which will make smart watches a great tool for paying in-store consumption.

Will one technology outperform other? Not。 It's never about technology, it's about creating a better shopping experience, strengthening people's connection to the shopping environment, how to combine the electronic wallet of the cloud with any technology in the right scenario, and always keeping the money safe for consumers.

In the digital age, redefining the way millions of people spend money is a very exciting thing. I can't wait to push some great products and ideas into the world's consumers.