Dutch ING is testing payment with people nearby via ultrawideband

The Dutch ING Bank will start with an internal test for payments with people nearby. Those people can be found in the app via the ultrawideband chip in phones. For the time being, the technology will only work with a few high-end Samsung phones.

In the test, the option ‘Near’ appears at the top of the screen for possible payments, along with an estimate of the distance to the phone. Users can select it to share an IBAN with someone, after which it will be a normal transfer, reports ING. Sharing the IBAN only takes place after permission in the app of the person with whom you want to pay.

Finding other people is done via ultrawideband or uwb. That technique, 802.15.4z, works between 6GHz and 8GHz and has the new application that devices can estimate the distance to each other by measuring the signal. Apple uses this for its AirTags, among other things.

According to ING, the function can be used for paying at flea markets and sharing the bill in the catering industry with people whose contact details you do not have. ING’s Near function works with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra, the manufacturer says. Cheaper models do not yet have the uwb chip, so the function is currently limited to a small number of devices.

ING says it is working with NXP for the function, the Dutch manufacturer that makes the Trimension SR100T-uwb chip in various Samsung phones. For the time being, this is only an internal test. The bank then determines whether it will definitively make the technology available to customers.

ING Near with uwb