How NFC Payments Work



    This post will seem to some to be captainhood, but in fact, even on Habr’s, one has to meet comments like what for goat button accordion for NFC phones, because even in Moscow contactless payments do not work. And here it’s not true, they are already working - and the places where you can pay just by attaching the phone to the reader appear literally before our eyes - I was going to write this post more than a month ago, and during this time NFC-terminals for receiving payments only near my house appeared in one international network of eateries (not shawarma), for example. But first things first.

    The idea of ​​this article arose immediately after the announcementa partnership of MTS promoting its NFC payments service and Sony Mobile Communications. The first officially tested smartphone supporting this service was the Sony Xperia Sola, which I took for a test. Therefore, I went to the nearest MTS salon for the “NFC-payments” package, which includes an MTS-Money bank card and a special SIM card. For owners of phones without NFC support, an NFC antenna is also issued, which is attached directly to the SIM card - thanks to this, the joys of contactless payments can be used by owners of a variety of phones without built-in NFC (but not all - the restrictions are described in more detail on the MTS Money website ).

    For smartphones with built-in NFC chips, the situation is even more complicated: at the moment, the following models are tested for compatibility with the NFC payments kit: Sony Xperia sola, HTC one X, LG Prada, Samsung galaxy S3, Sony Xperia S, Sony Xperia P, Sony Xperia ION. This information is not yet available on the site, so it can be said to be exclusive - only for Habr (: Compatibility testing implies that theoretically the kit may not work with some phones - in this case, the specialists are finalizing the software. Therefore, for phones with NFC - I couldn’t guarantee compatibility with 100% probability by chips from this list.

    How to connect


    Owners of MTS SIM cards will simply be replaced with a new one while maintaining the number. MTS-Money card is issued there, on the spot. There are two options, as usual: debit and with a credit limit. In the second case, they will call you back - almost immediately, within fifteen minutes (if they do not get through the first time, they will call you back later; I did not hear the call and I was rediald in half an hour) for a short telephone questionnaire. Then, within an hour, an SMS will come with a notification about the decision of MTS Bank about opening a credit limit for you. Pitfalls, as usual - the cost of a loan. 55% per annum is, to say the least, a lot. Therefore, it is better not to go into minus or even draw up a card without a credit limit. In this case, MTS Bank will charge you 5% per annum on the balance.

    The card is issued immediately, on the spot, so it is not registered. The PIN code is connected by the user himself by calling a special number. The control code for the connection comes in SMS and is valid for 48 hours. Also, SMS receives a link to the MTS Money Mobile Banking mobile application, a login and password for the application, and a login and password for the Internet client. The password, of course, needs to be changed, but with the login everything is more complicated. Neither the mobile application nor the web client can change the login. If in the application the login (8 digits) is at least saved in the input form, then on the personalbank.ru website the form autofill is disabled in the login form, and the option “Remember login” (as in “Alpha-click”, for example) is absent as a class. As a result, 10 digits of the Internet login have to be searched every time in that SMS. It is not comfortable.

    How it works


    The MTS Money SIM card is itself a payment tool, and is displayed as a SIM MasterCard in your personal account (unlike a regular master card that was also issued to you at the MTS office). Balance on SIM MasterCard has access to the same card account as just MasterCard - and, accordingly, they always have the same balance, which, however, is not equal to the balance on the phone account. This is one of the common misconceptions that I had: the balance of the phone was, is and will be separate from the balance of your card. When paying by NFC, funds are not debited from the phone bill, but from the linked bank account.

    Where and how to pay


    This is the most interesting. NFC-payments in Russia are developed by the MasterCard payment system, the MasterCard PayPass terminals of which quietly inhabit the vastness of our vast territory. An incomplete list of retail, pharmacy and restaurant chains that support NFC-payment technology can be viewed on their website - as you can see, there is far from only Moscow. This list is incomplete because there is, for example, no mention of the Burger King network in restaurants of which you can now pay with a card for a burger; I also saw PayPass terminals at the Oktyabr movie theater (I did not check other Karino-movie movie theaters). They appear literally before our eyes.

    The payment process itself is very fast and simple: you bring the phone to the terminal for a couple of seconds, then processing takes place and then the payment goes through (if, of course, you have enough money in the account). If the amount is more than 1000 rubles, then you will need to enter a PIN code. NFC micropayment is now the most convenient option, even more convenient than a bank card - after all, the phone is always at hand.

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