Snippings

I’ve written here before that ultra-wideband (UWB) technology will mean interesting new consumer services and new opportunities for financial services.

(As a reminder since the iPhone 11, Apple phones and watches have come with UWB, as do many Android devices. UWB means devices can determine location very accurately indeed. This means that with UWB it is possible to measure distance to a couple of inches and since apps can get this information a few times every second they can also tell whether another device is stationary, approaching or receding. For example, a UWB-enabled system can sense if you’re moving toward a locked door and it can know if you’re on the inside or outside of the doorway, to determine if the lock should remain closed or open when you reach a certain point.)

UWB chips have been used for some time for applications such as tracking players (and the ball) on a sport field or for finding equipment in hospitals, but of course what interests me is their use in financial services, beginning with payments. In Japan, NTT Docomo teamed up with Sony and NXP Semiconductors (their UWB chipset was announced last September) some time ago to let shoppers make NFC payments without having to take their phones out of their pockets by using the technology to follow user movement and positioning.

 

Now the Dutch bank

ING is piloting a peer-to-peer payments app that uses ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to let users transfer money by simply pointing one handset at another.

The Dutch bank is working with Samsung and NXP Semiconductors on the ‘Near’ app pilot, an industry first for UWB, a new technology based on radio waves that that can precisely lock onto an object, discover its location and communicate with it.

From ING pilots ultra-wideband tech for P2P contactless payments.

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In a patent granted to Apple by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday titled “Location-based credential selection for wireless transactions,” that search for the right card could be a thing of the past.

In essence, the patent suggests that a device like an iPhone could automatically present the correct credential or payment type for a nearby terminal. It does so by detecting a nearby terminal using radio technologies, such as ultra-wideband, to determine relative distance and to confirm the type of terminal being used.

The system consists of a secure transaction subsystem and a processor, with the former set up to store multiple credentials. The processor is set to receive encrypted radio polling messages from other devices, to respond, and to receive location data back from the nearby transmitter.

From Apple Pay with UWB may automatically select right card based on location | AppleInsider.

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. This takes the new location technologies into the transaction space, alongside the existing Wifi, RFID/NFC and Bluetoon technologies. Obviously this of particular interest to me because of the applications around payments, insurance and risk management but I’m sure there are kids in basements rights now working on applications that I’ve never thought.

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Mark Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday that Facebook Pay has officially become Meta Pay, but his post is mainly focused on what the company hopes to build in the future — “a wallet for the metaverse.” While Meta Pay is essentially the same tool as it was before, just with Meta branding, Zuckerberg says the company is working on something that will let users manage their identities, items, and payment methods while making their way through the digital world that Meta bets will be the future.

From Zuckerberg details his plan to move your digital items across the metaverse – The Verge:

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Petvation, though, says its smart door uses facial recognition software and machine learning to automatically slide upwards when your pet is spotted and then close behind them.

Petvation claims its new door is so smart that pet lovers can keep dogs out and let cats in, or vice versa. It even warns you via a connected app if unwanted critters like skunks attempt a break-in, and it can also tell you if your pets brought unwelcome friends — like all those mice your cat keeps trying to get you to eat.

From Smart Pet Door Uses Facial Recognition to Keep Strange Animals Out.

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There’s a strong link between digital identity and instant payments.

Being able to verify customer identity digitally will be critical when Canadian financial institutions launch the Real-Time Rail instant payments service in 2023

From How banks are shaping Canada’s digital ID infrastructure | PaymentsSource | American Banker.

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Distributed ledgers, smart contracts, and digital identities may allow new forms of risk management that shift the distribution of costs.

From Speech by Vice Chair Brainard on crypto-assets and decentralized finance through a financial stability lens – Federal Reserve Board.

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BPEA Conference Drafts, March 24-25, 2022
Cryptocurrencies and Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Igor Makarov, London School of Economics Antoinette Schoar, MIT Sloan; NBER; and CEPR

 

We highlight that there are ways to regulate the DeFi system which would preserve a majority of features of the blockchain architecture but support accountability and regulatory compliance. These solutions would rely on a system where validators on the blockchain agree to check if a particular address belongs to a certified entity and validators would be charged with only processing transactions that involve certified addresses.

From .

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A crook posed as a G4S security guard to trick bank staff into handing over cash boxes with £150,000 inside.

The criminal strolled into a Santander’s Brixton branch in a uniform kitted out with both a helmet and visor, although sources claimed it wasn’t even a G4S uniform.

The man reportedly showed a fake ID and took two boxes at once, which is against regulation.

From ‘Bank robber’ walks out with £150,000 after telling Santander staff he was a G4S security guard | Daily Mail Online.

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Centralised Wallets give companies unparalleled access and insights via user data. Please think carefully before you signup.

From ☕️ 🟣 Samsung Pay • Fractional CMO • AI Ethics Committee • Digital Tokens.

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Meta’s ending the pilot for Novi, the company’s digital wallet and the last remaining piece of its troubled cryptocurrency project, as first reported by Bloomberg. On Novi’s website, Meta says the wallet is shutting down on September 1st, 2022, and asks users to withdraw their funds “as soon as possible.”

From Meta’s shutting down its digital wallet, Novi – The Verge.

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“I think it’s very unlikely that any of us would issue a retail CBDC as a bearer instrument. (…) It would probably be some form of account-based instrument.”

From Bank of England dismisses using digital pound like cash; Here’s why.

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A critical Ethereum security assumption is that smart contract code is immutable and therefore cannot be changed once it is deployed on the blockchain. In practice, some smart contracts can change – even after they’ve been deployed. With a few clever tricks, you can create metamorphic smart contracts that “metamorphose” into something else – and by understanding what makes them possible, you can detect them.

Metamorphic smart contracts are mutable, meaning developers can change the code inside them.

From A Tool for Detecting Metamorphic Smart Contracts – a16z crypto.

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