What is a smart city?
A smart city is a city using an interconnected web of constant information feed by smart communication devices, various sensors and signal transmitters to optimize the city infrastructure and improve the quality of life. Through the use of data analysis provided by the IoT (internet of things), the smart city allows for immediate updates on a number of systems across the city, such as traffic congestion, contactless parking enablement, optimization of energy consumption, environmental issues, and many more. This initiative will be the ultimate transition of society into a highly digitized space, allowing for a better way to address existing issues and combat them.
What are the benefits?
One of the main goals of the smart city concept is to improve the quality of life of general citizens through the use of technology and digital communications. In addition, the smart city aims to develop new organic ways for us to interact with technology in a broad sense of the word. The integration of contactless payments into day-to-day life brings countless potential use cases for the enablement of the future of commerce today.
The following are a few examples of how a smart city could benefit from an EMV cloud:
- Transit & public transportation
Using a unified cloud system to facilitate mass transit significantly decreases wait times and improves the digital payments circulation; - Scooters, bikes and others
Scooters, bikes, and other forms of communal transport that can be used by anyone who possesses a smart device is a way to simplify payments acceptance and to increase revenue flow; - Parking authorities
Enabling a ubiquitous EMV payments acceptance system makes parking a hassle-free experience. You become a few taps away from securing a spot; - Events and venues
Cloud EMV removes the need to use cash, and enables everyone who has a smartphone or a contactless payment card to conduct secure transactions even at rapidly organized events; - Utilities & tax payments
Paying off utilities and taxes in a secure, mobile environment leads to a better user experience, and more rapid development of contactless payment solutions; - Food & beverage
Use your smartphone or simply ‘tap on phone’ to pay for your groceries; - Vending & self-service
Cloud EMV secures any payment channel and lets you pay securely any- and everywhere using contactless payment solutions; - Healthcare & public services
Use a secure EMV cloud channel to pay for all your needs in the public sector.
EMV Cloud & the future of smart cities
Given the rapid development of the infrastructure and architecture in a modern city, shifting to hands-free, over-the-air solutions is a logical consequent step into a more independent future where people are not bound by obsolete, and inundated in-person payments and other related artifacts of the past.
This is just the beginning. As increasingly more merchants and enterprises, as well as social sectors, start embracing the contactless financial models, the more payments sector will develop offering more efficient, more secure, and more convenient solutions. As of now and for the near future an EMV Cloud will remain the most promising solution due to its ubiquitous nature, security, and integration capabilities. The cloud has numerous additional use-cases that are yet to be discovered to improve and expand the digital payments sphere.
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