Payala: A resilient payments infrastructure for the future
Payala is the world’s first digital payment technology that works offline like cash without compromising on security. Taking the best concepts and properties from the world of blockchain technologies and combining and optimising them for security, efficiency and utility. Designed for austere environments, individual users do not need their own smartphone, only a smartcard. As long as someone has a working smartphone, a little battery power and the app, a local transaction can be performed, just like cash. When the network is available, transactions can span the globe (unlike cash). Payala gives your users the best both world.
How it works
Payala has three usage modes: with merchants it behaves like any other payment card – enter your PIN and tap! For payments when the network is down Payala uses a unique three tap mechanism to secure in person peer to peer payments. Finally users can use their cards to make online transactions using anyone’s suitable smartphone, making it possible for a user with just a card to buy things online – smartphone or computer not required! User tested in communities that are lowe literacy technically illiterate, Payala’s user and terminal apps also include features designed with and tested by illiterate communities.
Security first
Any digital payment system or medium of exchange must have security at its heart. Security is essential to confidence which is the underlying property of money. Therefore Payala has been designed with security at its core. From careful selection of cryptographic functions and primitives to the use of smartcard to limit the available attack surface available to any potential adversary, to extensive testing, Payala has been designed and developed with security at its core. Further information on the security and threat model is available on request.
Who we are
We’re a team of experts with decades of experience in infosec, engineering, public policy, macro economics and banking. Another two or three sentences on this and a link to the “Team” page should suffice.