TechCrunch Disrupt 2010 Startup Alley Winner MobilePayUSA announces that private beta-testing of the company’s non-NFC mobile payment solution has begun at the Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt in Balboa Island, California. Instead of waiting for NFC technology to become viable, Tutti Frutti is using the Virtual Terminal offered by MobilePayUSA for PC-based POS systems.

Unlike other e-wallets, MobilePayUSA does not use RFID chips embedded in smart phones that hold credit card numbers in order to process payments. Credit information is never stored on the phone or shared with the merchant with MobilePayUSA. This difference, according to MobilePayUSA, will prove to make their system more secure from the real
threat of illegal skimmers and hackers.

The company says their platform–unlike their NFC competitors–requires no expensive hardware upgrades. Instead, MobilePayUSA solution uses existing hardware to make the dream of mobile payments a reality, thus taking the cost hurdle out of the race for nationwide adoption.

MobilePayUSA will begin public beta-testing of their system by Q4 2011.

Source: MobilePayUSA