What is Alipay's "tap to pay"?

Maybe most of you have seen the news about Alipay's upgraded payment method on the internet recently. Only need to use the mobile phone ‘touch’ can complete the payment, which attracted a lot of netizens' curiosity.

（You can pay directly even when using the app）

You may be thinking, what is the difference between this and using NFC payment? It's already convenient to pay by scanning the QR code directly, so why bother?

"Scan the QR code" requires entering the Alipay App and opening the payment code, which takes 3steps.

However, "tap to pay" directly with the mobile phone touch, the fastest 1 step to complete the payment!

(PS: Android mobile phones only need 1 step, and iphones need to tap ‘Open’ to complete the payment after touching it. )

Why the difference in steps?

In fact, it is because Alipay wants "tap to pay" to support both Android and IOS.

Because the traditional NFC payment mode is "card  emulation", the bank card information is encrypted and stored in the mobile phone, the mobile phone is simulated as a card, and the POS machine reads the mobile phone.

However, the "card  emulation" of IOS mobile phone is not open to the outside, and in China, the mode is dedicated to Apple Pay.

Therefore, Alipay "tap to pay" to the wave reverse operation, choose the "card reader mode", the mobile phone is simulated as a card reader, read the merchant device information, complete the payment.

But also because of the limitations of the mobile phone system, it is still necessary to jump through iPhone's system level, that is, the step of "open".

Android, on the other hand, has no system limitations, so it can naturally be implemented in one step

"Tap to pay" and "NFC payment" may seem to be the same, but there is a difference in essence, in that "tap to pay" does not store and transmit payment information through the mobile phone's NFC.

Why is there such a difference? 

In fact, it is because in the mobile phone NFC payment mode, the bank card information is encrypted and stored locally in the mobile phone, and the payment information is transmitted to the POS through NFC when making the payment, and the POS sends a request to the bank to complete the payment, and the mobile phone does not need to be connected to the Internet. 

"Tap to pay" is different, the mobile phone does not store the bank card information, and does not transmit the payment information through NFC. Just use NFC to complete the two devices handshake, after the process is carried out on the Internet.

So, touch and NFC payment follow different standards, the essence is different.

Although the public believes that this payment method actually has the risk of being taken by others to steal their account property, but we have to admit that this is definitely a big step forward in payment methods. 

The elderly, for example, no longer need to spend five or six steps to find a payment code; Or for our foreign friends who come to China, it also greatly improves the experience of payment.