Introduction
With all the available technologies today, it becomes harder and
harder to track unapproved devices within an organization. While the
popularity of near field communication (NFC) payments such as per
smart phone i.e., apple pay and google pay, is steady growing, it also
leads to certain issues associated with the payment systems. These
issues include the safeguarding of private information, excessive
charges on credit cards and debit cards, and the separation of guests
owning these devices and guests who don’t. This paper addresses
these issues concerning the mobile payment systems. Although, it is
considered good and safe practice to use mobile payment systems
through NFC, the use of radio frequency identification (RFID)
wristbands, provides greater security and less charges for customers,
while allowing Padgett Beale to benefit from their use as well.
Mobile Payment Systems
The use of mobile payment systems such as Apple pay or google pay
is widely accepted and growing in popularity because of the fast,
secure, and convenient process. The mobile device (usually smart
phone) stores the owner’s credit and/or debit card information in an
application i.e., wallet app (Square, 2017). The owner now can pay
through near field communication (NFC) once he/she is
authenticated. The process is of paying via NFC only requires a few
seconds and is considered safe due to the limited transmitting
distance of a couple of inches. The payments are typically accepted
via NFC enabled payment terminals, mobile apps that utilize NFC, or
contactless payment terminals.
Radio Frequency Identification
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is experiencing a
significant growth because of all the possibilities associated with the
technology. RFID can store all kinds of information. The information
could contain bank account information, credit card numbers,
passport numbers, information about your driver’s license, and so on
while simultaneously being used to access a booked hotel room or
gaining access to a theme park. RFID chips are small and fit into a
variety of devices such as wristbands. These wristbands enable the
wearer to make cashless payments, identifying him/herself, or as
mentioned before, to open a door at a hotel room. These devices are
typically powered off until they are near a RFID chip reader which
power chip for a short period of time, until a transaction is made.
The wearer of the wristband practically doesn’t even know that he is
wearing one. RFID devices have the capability of being a one for all
devices (ID&C, 2021). Furthermore, these wristbands containing RFID
chips, can be used to collect customer data for the purpose of
providing improved services. The collected data is data on
frequencies of places visited, what time someone usually goes to
lunch, and time spend in a hotel room vs. time spend on the tennis
court for example.
Privacy Concerns and Issues
The usage of mobile payment systems comes with numerous threats,
privacy concerns, and other security issues. Padgett Beale hosts
several third-party vendors that utilize these systems for payment
processing. While the transaction itself is a safe process, Padgett
Beale has no control over what data is being collected and what
charges apply from the vendors to their customers, which rises
privacy concerns. Secondly, if a mobile device is lost or stolen, all
data contained on the device can be accessed and tampered with. A
criminal might try to make use of the data by accessing accounts and
perhaps using mobile payment system to make purchases. In
addition, a hacker could try to access the mobile device and steal the
sensitive information contained in the wallet apps. Another great risk
of mobile payment system is that the payment service provider could
be hacked. In this scenario, all processed payments, customer
information, credit card numbers, and other information could be
compromised. Lastly, the mobile payment service provider could be a
victim of a Dedicated Denial of Service (DDoS) attack (ENISA, 2016).
There are many more examples of threats concerning the mobile
payment system.
The current issue with RFID is of privacy concerns. The users might
get a feeling of being surveilled as their information is captured
(Bowler, 2020). The user doesn’t know what the gathered
information is being used for, and what type of information is
acquired. However, since the benefits of the RFID devices or
wearables such as wristbands outweigh the risk factors, and the
threats from mobile payment systems are greater than the benefits,
Padgett Beale should cease and desist the use of mobile payment
systems. RFID is not only an alternative, but a secure, fast,
convenient, and future proof system.
Summary
There is a great variety of payment options on the market today.
Cashless payment systems are experiencing a great growth in
popularity because of their convenience, speed, and security. Mobile
payment systems using NFC can provide great benefits to the user
but comes with security risk factors such as hacker attacks, DDoS
attacks, or the possibility of losing a device or having a device stolen
as well. RFID can provide great features such as making payments,
gaining access, identification and many more. Personal data such as
credit card information is stored on RFID chips on temporarily, for
example the duration of a hotel stay, and therefore provides great
security.
References
Bowler, J. (2020, March 2).
RFID wristbands - What you need to
know (according to our London office)
. Printsome Insights.
https://blog.printsome.com/rfid-wristbands-good-bad/
ENISA. (2016).
Security of mobile payments and digital wallets
.
European Union Agency for Network and Information Security.
ID&C. (2021, June 10).
8 benefits of using RFID wristbands for
resorts & attractions
. US Blog. https://www.idcband.com/en-us/blog-
us/8-benefits-of-using-rfid-wristbands-resorts-attractions/
