From Payments to Nanopayments!
In the last few years, the number of payment transactions in the physical and virtual worlds has exploded. Growing consumer demand and increasing competition between merchants mean there are no longer limitations on high-value transactions using typical payment methods.
Increasing fraud and the resulting upsurge in the need for security have led to a significant rise in transaction processing costs for classic electronic payment methods. There is also a growing need to make small electronic payments for things such as virtual goods or media content.
To tackle these trends, alternative electronic payment methods have appeared. Among them, and supported by Atos, are nanopayment solutions which leverage advances in cryptography, such as zeroknowledge and blind signature. These solutions reduce costs by decentralizing the operation while guaranteeing a certain level of security.
This whitepaper from Atos’ Scientific Community details the current state of play in the cashless payment industry, gives an explanation of existing solutions, and looks at the opportunities and challenges that need to be tackled in the areas of regulatory issues, adoption and multiplicity of schemes, user acceptance, and business model and operational reach.
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