Flic Pay

Inspiration

Paying is a hassle. Find your card, input the password, but being careful so that nobody is watching. Some POS are different than others and hence the system works differently. We wanted to simplify payment, for small and big amounts of cash. Your card is now a button. It can be on your keychain, your pockets, as cuff-links, etc... It is easily disabled and will let you know when the battery must be changed.

What it does

Flic hack eases the buying process from different shopping channels by using a smart button as a link to your bank account. It has a password as what is done now, but the password can be input from inside your pocket and avoid other users to steal it. It is easy to lock the button link and activate it at will, so if you think your button is lost, just open the bank app on your phone and press lock. You can buy a new one and set it as your default Flic Pay system.

How we built it

Two android apps were developed. One as the bank fidelity app which you can use to see your balance and set your Flic button with a password. The other is an app that simulates the POS used by many merchants to pay. The Flic button connects via Bluetooth with the POS, and the user can start inputting his password.

Challenges we ran into

A system was developed to differentiate between other users paying at the same time by using random intervals where he has to press the Flic button. This was a challenge since we couldn't get the RSSI (signal strength) to determine which was closer in case more than one button made the exact sequence.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The innovative system to input a password. A timeline is displayed and your password is the rhythm you use to click the button 3 times during 10 seconds. Each click can be either a short or a long-press, it doesn't matter, and even better, nobody can see when you are pressing since you can do it from within your pockets.

What's next for Flic Pay

Try to make an easier pairing between the Flic button and other devices, and use a specific UUID to make POS be listening constantly to Flic buttons so that pairing is automatic. We should also increase security since now the data is transferred wirelessly.

We re-designed the concept of the button and thought of features as fingerprint recognition, LEDs for battery indication, vibration when payment is successful, an integration to the smartphone cover, magnets to use it as cufflinks, etc. This is all things that must be done in the future, and hope will be possible with an extended battery life.