Mastercard Debuts NextGen Contactless Technology

Mastercard has applied new quantum-resistant technologies in order to develop a new kind of contactless payment, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS.

The new Enhanced Contactless (Ecos) specifications will come along with the demand for more efficient, safer products overall, the release stated.

Contactless payments are “future-proofed” in that they will let consumers access the security and convenience for long into the future, according to the release. They’re also likely to continue to grow; the third quarter of 2020 showed that contactless penetration represented 41 percent of in-person purchases across the globe. That number is a 30 percent boost from where it was the previous year.

Ecos’s specifications say that any device will be able to be used as a payment device, making it less necessary to carry backup cards or payment methods. The release stated the quantum-resistant technology will be used to deliver better algorithms and cryptographic key strengths, in addition to keeping contactless interactions quick at under half a second.

Additionally, the release stated there will be new privacy standards when account information is shared between the card or digital wallet and the checkout terminal, supporting various privacy requirements.

Ajay Bhalla, president of Cyber and Intelligence Solutions at Mastercard, said last year “brought with it a rapid acceleration of digitization and reinforced the importance of digital solutions — like contactless — to help meet our everyday needs.”

“As the ecosystem continues to evolve, more connected devices and the Internet of Things are going to create more user demand and an even greater need for constant innovation to build next-generation capability, helping to ensure that technology never outpaces trust,” he said, according to the release.

Mastercard has been modernizing with much of the rest of the world, including launching a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) technology, with the goal of widening the amount of payment types there can be. One senior official said the cloud could help extend developments out through a larger community overall.