Oxford – making personal payments via mobile

Licensing opportunity

New security technology developed at Oxford by University by Bill Roscoe and his team will allow people to make payments via mobile phones, providing a replacement for personal cheques.

The technology, available to license from Isis Innovation, the university’s technology transfer arm, is designed to work in almost all situations: person to person, in a shop or restaurant, at a vending machine, online, or as part of a telephone conversation.

“What we have is technology which enables anyone to easily create a secure connection between two devices,” said Roscoe. “It can work via Bluetooth, WiFi, the Internet or across ordinary telephone or SMS (Short Message Service) connections. The core of our technology is a new security protocol that enables strong cryptographic keys to be created with the least possible work. The key to the protocol is that it prevents anyone from doing any searching to break into the transaction.”

Roscoe added, “The technology is designed to put the payer in charge of the connection and let him or her have direct control over how much is paid and to whom, very much like a cheque.”

Isis welcomes inquiries from commercial partners interested in being involved in further development.