Executive Director Message
Reimagining Contactless Payments in this New Era
A short time ago, we were thinking about contactless payments in terms of changing consumer checkout behavior from inserting their chip cards to tapping them, and urging consumers to use mobile devices like smart phones and watches as a speed and convenience option, not as a potentially lifesaving decision.
Now, even the meaning of the term “contactless checkout” has been repurposed for a different checkout experience entirely, instead referring to curb-side pickup or delivery, in addition to or instead of in-store shopping. Payment is usually done completely online or over the phone so there is no contact between the retailer and the shopper at all.
Whenever consumers do venture inside essential retail businesses like supermarkets, drug stores, and gas stations, their checkout experiences may require interaction with high-contact surfaces, such as payment cards, terminals and keypads, which can expose consumers to bacteria and other germs. With the global COVID-19 situation raising concerns around hygiene in public environments, the U.S. Payments Forum has published practical tips for retail and petroleum merchants, ATM owners and consumers to provide a “cleaner” payment experience. The U.S. Payments Forum recognized that the need for point-of-sale hygiene was resulting in POS devices failing in greater numbers, due to well-intentioned cashiers and consumers spraying disinfectants onto the pin pads and taking other cleaning steps that could damage the devices. The Forum saw a need and quickly released a short resource, “Tips for a Cleaner Payment Experience,” that can be downloaded at https://www.uspaymentsforum.org/tips-for-cleaner-payments/. This resource gives merchants and consumers practical steps to make payments as safe as possible in day-to-day payment situations.
As businesses begin to reopen and shoppers begin to relax self-isolation while the coronavirus threat remains on our minds, there will be not only new social distancing restrictions at stores, but a new level of mindfulness about avoidable germ contact points during the checkout process. More people will see and learn from others making good hygiene choices when they checkout and this will break some old habits that technology-adverse shoppers cling to. They will see people using a smart phone or watch instead of a card, choosing to tap their (contactless) cards instead of inserting them, ignoring unwanted prompts for entering additional information into the POS device, and declining printed receipts for small ticket items and consumables like coffee or a takeout meal.
Other shopping behaviors are also going to change as a result of COVID-19. Shopping online for home delivery, ordering and paying online for curb-side pick-up of groceries, and choosing restaurants that offer more take-out dining options to replace dine-in meals will challenge both consumers and retailers to learn how to adapt to online payments technologies. The learning curve will be steep, but the need is great to learn, adapt, and get used to the new normal for retail payments – at least for the foreseeable future.
Stay safe and my best wishes go out to you and your families.
Sincerely,
Randy Vanderhoof
Executive Director, Secure Technology Alliance
New Webinar: mDL Use Cases on Day One and Beyond
Mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) are a much-anticipated new development in digital identification in the U.S., but there are still questions around where they can be used, what their capabilities are, and how to accept them. The Secure Technology Alliance Identity Council is holding second webinar in its mobile driver’s license webinar series, which will focus on relying party use of mDLs for identity verification.
The webinar, “mDL Use Cases on Day One and Beyond,” will be held on Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 1pm ET/10am PT. To register for the webinar, visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4477725226811143695.
Speakers for the webinar are: Andreas Aabye, Visa; Justin Gage, Consult Hyperion; Brandon Gutierrez, Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration; David Kelts, GET Group NA; Tom Lockwood, NextgenID; and Randy Vanderhoof, Secure Technology Alliance.
Webinar attendees will gain a better understanding of how to leverage mDLs for identity verification. Topics include:
- Capabilities defined in the ISO/IEC 18013-5 standard
- mDL interaction modes and their impact on use cases
- Relying party requirements for mDLs and their use in specific environments (e.g., banking, retail, government)
- An overview of Secure Technology Alliance tools that can be used by relying parties to help plan mDL implementation
Register for the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4477725226811143695.
New mDLConnection Web Site
The Secure Technology Alliance took another step forward in its efforts to raise awareness and accelerate adoption of mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) in the U.S. with the launch of an online educational hub, mDLConnection.com. This website will help to inform the U.S. market on the technology, its applications and its current implementation status across states, and is the latest educational deliverable of the Alliance’s mobile driver’s license initiative to date.
The mDLConnection.com content portal:
- Provides easy access to resources on mDL technology, its applications, implementation and more from trusted sources, including the Secure Technology Alliance, its members, government bodies and other associations
- Highlights Alliance webinars, events and activities related to mDLs and mDL applications
- Features relevant news and announcements on the development and spread of mobile driver’s license technology in the U.S
- Displays a U.S. state-by-state mDL implementation tracker map that shows the status of pilots and implementations across all states
If you have content that you think would be valuable to add to the site, please contact Cathy Medich, [email protected].
Follow the Alliance on Social Media
The Secure Technology Alliance has enhanced its presence on social media with robust platforms on Twitter and LinkedIn. Here are some ways you can interact with the organization: