One of the biggest problems in the mobile payments arena these days is the comparatively few devices that can actually engage in such behaviors.
When Apple Pay first came out, for example, only a few of its devices could actually support the system. It was far from alone on that front as Samsung and others behaved similarly.
Now, Case Station may have figured out a new way to open up the process with a case that can provide near-field communications (NFC) access, and thus, mobile payments.
Basically, Case Station said that, if most phones don’t have the needed NFC chipset to take advantage of mobile payments, it would step in to provide via the case.
Set to work with the Barclaycard bPay mobile payment system, users will be able to make payments under 30 pounds sterling—about $39.10 as of this writing—via the combination of chip, payment system and phone contained therein. Users can add funds to the chip platform via an automatic top-up system, or via the bPay app and website.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen smartphone cases with exciting new propositions.
We’ve seen some absolutely staggering things done with smartphone cases; not only have we seen smartphone cases so resilient that they can survive high-speed drops onto concrete, but also recently with Motorola we’ve seen smartphone cases that contain battery backup packs, speakers, and even small projectors.
The idea that a smartphone case could be the primary source of a mobile payments system, therefore, is well within the realm of possible.
Right now we’re only seeing it connect with bPay, but what’s to stop any of the other mobile payment systems out there from developing their own cases for older devices that opens up the mobile payment platform to anyone else who’s interested in putting it to work?
What’s to stop Apple from making a case that connects to the iPhone 5 line, or even the iPhone 4 line, that allows Apple Pay to be used on older devices? If that were the case it would open up the payment platform to levels even Apple may not have considered.
There may be some technical limitations to surpass, but sometimes, it’s these out-of-the-box solutions that represent some of the biggest moves around. Case Station’s case may have kicked off a whole new revolution.
