Author: Mike Hearn 2014-06-25 11:23:45
Published on: 2014-06-25T11:23:45+00:00
The proposal suggests an extension to BIP 70 that allows wallets to be scanned by merchant barcode readers to initiate a payment request flow instead of the other way around. The motivation behind this proposal is to provide a mechanism for mobile wallets to request a bill, which will make it easier for merchants to leverage existing hardware (barcode readers) and greatly ease checkouts at drive-throughs. The proposed message BillRequest includes required fields like Unix timestamp (seconds since 1-Jan-1970 UTC) when the BillRequest was created, optional field Unix timestamp (UTC) after which the BillRequest should be considered invalid, and required field typically a URL where a BIP70 payment request can be sent. The author recommends displaying a non-QR barcode like a PDF417 barcode to initiate the Bill Request flow to avoid confusion with existing QR code usage in wallet apps. Although NFC is another technology that can be used, it remains somewhat uncommon and may not be suitable for smaller wearables hitting the market. The author also suggests exploring different technologies to see what works best in practice before trying to write a specification. The proposal is quite complex with new barcode types, and the best way to move it forward at this stage is to implement it in some existing wallets.
Updated on: 2023-06-09T00:37:38.314701+00:00