NAV/COM Hybrid Architecture for Innovative Location Based Payment Systems

Identification and authentication procedures are really important aspects when talking about payments. Nowadays, credit and debit cards are the target for thieves since they can be easily cloned. One of the main fraud sources is represented by the Point Of Sale, the well-known POS. The paper describes an innovative payment system studied, developed and tested within the GAL-PMI Project, an initiative funded by the Industry Division of the Piedmont Region. The system provides users with a user- friendly application to perform payments by means of personal mobile devices like PDA or smartphone, using Global Navigation Satellite Systems as the baseline to increase security aspects. The paper gives an overview of this payment system architecture, going through the technological infrastructure that is based on navigation and communication capabilities. Finally, the paper presents a real test case, which has been set-up to demonstrate how security aspects can be improved within identification and authentication processes during payments at gas station.