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Using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and wireless positioning technology built into every smartphone, this project demonstrated a next-generation credit payment experience that never requires taking out a card. ElektroLibera LLC designed and developed the iOS and Android apps as well as the mock POS tablet app.
Credit card companies are looking for new user experiences that are more intuitive and more seamless than today's payment methods — QR codes, inserting a card, and contactless taps. The client for this project focused on the wireless technology already built into every smartphone, and set out to verify whether a world is feasible in which a payment completes at the counter simply because you are carrying your phone — no wallet, no card.
They require launching an app, displaying a QR code and scanning it, which limits how smooth the experience can be.
The customer still has to physically take out a card or device and hold it near a dedicated reader.
An experience where payment completes automatically just by approaching the counter with your phone.
▼ Today's experience vs. the UX BLE payments aim for
Take out your wallet → pick a card → insert it into the terminal / tap it → enter your PIN → done
Approach the counter → just use your phone → automatic detection and authentication over BLE → payment complete
The user's smartphone and the store's mock POS tablet communicate over BLE and wireless positioning technology. The PoC demonstrated a mechanism that completes the payment sequence with no physical contact.
ElektroLibera LLC designed and developed three applications for this PoC. For the client's live demonstrations, we implemented a working payment flow running over real BLE communication.
We measured how RSSI varies with radio interference and multipath in real environments, and learned how to set the thresholds needed for stable proximity detection.
Measurements under conditions modeled on a real store clarified the communication range that is realistic for a payment gesture, and where its limits lie.
We built up know-how in designing payment flows around BLE's asynchronous behavior — timeouts, retries and authentication ordering.
We learned, at implementation level, how the two operating systems differ in Bluetooth permission models, background execution limits, and central/peripheral behavior.
We compared the accuracy and practicality of positioning methods such as BLE RSSI and Angle of Arrival, making it possible to define requirements for a commercial rollout.
Demonstrations on real devices showed stakeholders the technical feasibility firsthand and supported the decision to move to the next phase.
After the PoC phase ended, we continued to be engaged for research work aligned with the client's business strategy, building an ongoing partnership in the BLE payments space.
Commissioned by a megabank-affiliated credit card company, we ran a proof of concept for a next-generation payment UX built on BLE. ElektroLibera LLC designed and developed the Android and iOS payment apps and the mock POS tablet app, and delivered a working demo on real devices.
Drawing on the insights gained during the PoC, we were engaged to research multi-function payment terminals in support of the client's business strategy, analyzing market trends, technical specifications and rollout scenarios.
From PoC and prototype development to assessing commercialization, we welcome your inquiries about payment systems built on BLE and short-range wireless communication.
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We have declared our commitment to information security under SECURITY ACTION, the self-declaration scheme run by Japan's Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA).