In this historical moment even less experienced users have an idea of how digital payments work. Also because the financial operations enabled by NFC technologies o dai QR code are more or less the order of the day.
Me in one not too distant past things were very different. The credit cards they only started to make their way among people starting from the 1970s. And until a few years ago the use of smartphoneas payment instruments it wasn’t even remotely imaginable.
A brief history of digital payments helps to understand how many steps forward have been made over the last century of history. But also to retrace some fundamental steps: from the evolution of trade to the possibility of paying a wire transfer. From the first experiments of deferred paymentai mobile POS last generation.
Before digital payments
Summarize in a few lines Comprehensive history of world payments it’s practically impossible. At the same time it is certainly useful to highlight some fundamental stepswhich would have allowed us to arrive at the payments and the digital payments as we understand them today.
I first discoveries of coins attest to the birth of more or less complex payment systems starting from 6th century BC. Il trade it had existed for at least another 600 yearsbut in all likelihood it was linked to exchange and barter systems.
The evolution of payment systems is closely linked to diffusion and systematization of trade. Starting from the creation of associations who were the bearers of monopoly. Until we get to the birth of banks.
The first bank in history was founded in Amsterdam in 1609 and it fulfilled a double function: on the one hand take into storage the main international currencies.
The birth of credit cards was also stimulated by the dazzling success of a science fiction novel
On the other hand, collect through a kind of ancestor of the bank transfer, known as letter of exchange: a document that certified and enabled the payments. It is no coincidence that the literal translation of the name of this bank, Amsterdam Exchange Bankit really means “Amsterdam exchange bank”.
Just over two centuries later, while theEurope achieves unity and introduces the Liraan American novelist makes a fundamental contribution to the future birth of credit cards.
His name is Edward Bellamy and his most famous work is a science fiction novel called “Looking Back, 2000-1887”. In the text Bellamy imagine creating a payment system through a cardboard card.
It seems incredible, but the success of the novel by Edward Bellamy would have contributed to fueling American users’ desire to pay withoutuse cash. And shortly thereafter the first credit card experiments would be born.
The credit card boom years
The bonus credit cards they were actually gods deferred payment systems, which were enabled by specific services and places. There were some first experimenters of this system American hotelswhich allowed customers to pay through a system of identification tokenslinked to a fixed account.
This system would soon result in the first credit card issued by Diners Club nel 1950. A card accepted in about thirty New York restaurants, which allowed users to make payments at the end of the month.
The experiment was a success: within a few months Diners Club had sold over 40,000 credit cards. And users were happy to use the service and leave a commission.
The example of Diners Club would have given rise to several similar projects. And it would have made it possible birth of real credit cards, starting from the 1970s. Among the first companies to have invested in this product it is possible to mention American Express, Mastercard and the current Visa (formerly known as Bank AmeriCard).
Originally the credit card was a deferred payment system limited to specific services
Subsequently, the advent of the New Millennium marks a further turning point: the spread of debit cards and of prepaid cardsas a valid alternative to more traditional credit cards.
Credit, debit and prepaid cards share the same underlying technologies. In fact, these are tools that enable digital paymentsthrough theidentification of an owner and the link to it I countchain.
What varies are the payment execution method. In the case of credit cards the bank advances the sums paid by the user, within the limits of the available limit. After that all expenses are charged based on predefined time intervals.
In the case of debit cards and of prepaid cards il payment and instead immediate. This means that the user cannot spend more than is actually available in his current account.
New frontiers of digital payments: mobile POS, QR code and NFC
The new challenge of digital payments is about making the transition increasingly simple. For example by eliminating the need for physically have yours with youcarta.
Think in this sense about apps for smartphones that enable the device for payment without needing to “swipe” a card. But also to mobile POSwhich also allow the user to receive payments directly on your mobile phone.
From this point of view it is impossible not to mention the different ones digital payment services associated with current accounts: a series of software mobile which, once again, reduce the need to use physical paper.
To make the above digital payments possible, they are needed specific technological foundations. One of these is contained in the acronym NFCwhich stands for Near Field Communication.
NFC technology makes it possible data transfer between nearby devices between them. And it is now used in various forms of contactless digital payment.
Another tool that is becoming increasingly linked to the world of digital payments are i QR code: codes to frame for quick access to hyperlinks specific.
To know more: Digital payments, what they are, what they are, innovation and platforms