Biometrics Company Files Patent for Multiantenna Mobile Payment Technology

Biometric authentication company NXT-ID filed provisional patent 62/143028 for a method and system to perform wireless payments via near field communications in a mobile device, it said Monday. The patent covers miniature antenna modules for uses including radio frequency and magnetic stripe communications, energy transfer and charging, and wireless magnetic payments, the company said. The miniature antenna modules are small enough to fit in mobile and wearable devices, including smart watches, but powerful enough to transmit wirelessly to magnetic stripe readers, David Tunnell, NXT-ID chief technology officer, said. Users can position the antenna-equipped devices within a few inches of most magnetic strip readers to transmit magnetic stripe data wirelessly, “at a fraction of the power consumption of other approaches,” Tunnell said. A key challenge with dynamic magnetic stripe technology has been to get it to work across all magnetic stripe readers, not just some, and NXT-ID’s multipurpose antenna technology has overcome that limitation, Tunnel said.