Mastercard receives patent for an IOTA-based billing system

• Mastercard has received a patent for a billing system based on IOTA’s Tangle. 
• The payments giant plans to bill device usage through a transparent storage system.
• Mastercard’s new patent does not mean that the firm will build an app on IOTA.

The European Patent Office has recently granted a patent to Mastercard for a billing system based on IOTA’s Tangle. The patent application, titled “Method and System for Device Micropayment Aggregation based on Tangle Network,” was submitted by the payments platform back in February 2019. 

Mastercard’s patented method includes an approach for billing device usage using a transparent storage system. For instance, the approach could be used for devices like computer printers, 3D printers or photocopiers. 

According to the patent, current systems rely on coin-operated or prepaid accounts, which often lead to users paying for more device usage than they need. Mastercard has proposed a system that would store all data related to the device (from user identities to time spent and usage amounts) on a Tangle. This will let users pay for precisely what they need or use through their credit cards or any other payment method. 

Mastercard’s transparent approach also “ensures that no user is taken advantage of.” Under the proposed system, users would be able to monitor their usage, and third parties would be able to audit the payment records. 

Notably, Mayercard’s new patent does not mean the payments giant will build an app on IOTA. It simply means that Mastercard has recognized IOTA’s Tangle as a functional design and that Mastercard could design a network similar to the Tangle.

IOT/USD daily chart

IOT/USD has had a bullish session following three consecutive sessions. So far this Friday, the price of the asset has gone up from $0.3383 to $0.341. The MACD shows increasing bullish momentum. There are strong resistance levels at $0.3634, $0.3816 (SMA 20) $0.39332 and $0.43. On the downside, we healthy support levels at $0.3146 (SMA 50) and $0.2754

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