Alipay has launched a payment system in the Beijing subway that uses sound waves to connect smartphones with ticketing machines.
The sound wave payment system was introduced with the Alipay Wallet mobile app in January and uses white noise generated by a smartphone to carry digital information to another device.
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The launch marks the first time the system has been used with a payment kiosk for consumer transactions.
To use the sound wave payment system, customers open the Alipay Wallet app while holding their handset close to a sensor on the ticketing machine, and wait for it to make a noise.
Wang Yu-ming, Alipay’s business development director, told Xinhua that each sound transmission is unique to the transaction and is only valid for five minutes because of security reasons.
If Alipay’s launch of sound wave payments proves successful, the system could potentially be implemented in convenience stores, supermarkets, and department stores.
To begin with, the system has been launched in two stations on Line 4 of the Beijing subway and will expand to the rest of the line soon.
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