Mobile payments or m-payments in the narrow sense of the term refer to contactless payments at the point of sale using mobile devices. For mobile payments, customers require a mobile device and a corresponding payment service app.
In Germany, contactless communication between the POS system and the mobile device is usually carried out via the quick response code (QR code) or near-field communication (NFC) transmission technologies. After the successful data transfer, the actual payment is usually effected by direct debit, credit card, account credit or PayPal.
Mobile payments in the broader sense of the term refer to the execution of payments via mobile devices.