IrDA to Demo Infrared Payment System at CES

The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) along with Palm Inc., Visa, and several other financial transaction companies will demonstrate a new financial messaging standard at the Consumer Electronics Show. They will show credit, debit, or checking data going from a Palm handheld via the Palm's infrared port to a Point-of-Sales (POS) terminal. The authorization request is then sent to a processing center and after verification, a payment authorization message is sent back to the terminal to finalize the transaction and transfer a receipt to the Palm. The process is complete in a matter of seconds.

The Infrared Financial Messaging (IrFM) specifications form the basis of an open, universal standard for payment processing equipment and financial services. The standard is designed to accommodate 200+ million mobile phones, PDAs, POS terminals, and other IrDA-enabled devices already in the marketplace.

"The proof-of-concept demonstration shows that existing IrDA-enabled handheld and POS equipment can communicate financial transaction information quickly using an infrared beam. The standards developed by the IrFM work group within IrDA will set the stage for future development of digital payment systems," stated H.R. Damon Gonzalez, Vice President of Business Development at CrossCheck, Inc.

The final IrFM specifications will also incorporate and support Bluetooth integration, the EuroPay MasterCard VISA (EMV) standards for credit cards and MICR standards for checks.