The “Payments Theory of Everything” explains how EMV, NFC, HCE, and BLE fit together

Last updated: 17 December 2014

Traditional commerce is no longer the only piece in the payments puzzle.  Innovation in payments is happening so quickly that it’s hard to imagine how all of these emerging technologies are going to work together – or will one technology dominate?  Which way will the industry go?  Will cloud-based payments take over, or will secure-element based payments remain the standard?

Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a whirlwind of new technologies hit the market, especially for contactless and mobile payment schemes.  EMV, HCE, BLE, and NFC are all vying for their place in our wallets, and each of them is useful and important in their own right.

Each has its place within a particular use-case: from BLE enabling an interactive check-in experience, to NFC offering a seamless and secure check-out, to HCE bringing enhanced loyalty and couponing. With all of the considerations, it quickly becomes apparent that there is not just one path for advanced payment. Each form brings its own unique benefits and challenges, which is why having a multi-faceted strategy is a good way to ensure you remain at the forefront of technological developments.

My colleague and frequent blogger, Philippe Benitez, recently presented what has been coined the “Payments Theory of Everything,” which gives his view of how the prominent emerging payment technologies are interconnected in the payments ecosystem.  Philippe brings to light the benefits of each one and paints an interesting and comprehensive picture of a payments world where EMV, NFC, HCE, BLE, etc. fit together.

To see the complete “Payments Theory of Everything,” you can watch an archived version of the webinar here:

Payments Theory of Everything Webinar

2 thoughts on “The “Payments Theory of Everything” explains how EMV, NFC, HCE, and BLE fit together

  1. I didn’t hear any mention of HCE in this presentation, which is odd considering that you list it three times in the above description. And especially considering that it is the most interesting enabler of contactless EMV for the issuers he seems to address.

    1. It’s true I didn’t really call out HCE by name in my presentation. I couldn’t find a way to neatly fit it into my categories on slide 23. When it comes to data storage, HCE is a hybrid of Cloud and device-based, and it does some of the processing in the Cloud and some on the device, placing it a little between categories. I appreciate the feedback. After all, it’s a work in progress.

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