It has strengths in three aspects: security, convenience, and price.

It is a technology that transmits information like a QR code. The difference is that it uses inaudible sound waves. It is safer and more convenient than a QR code.

Lee Dong-ho, CTO of Infosonic, made these remarks while introducing 'Sonic Code,' a fintech technology utilizing inaudible sound waves. Sonic Code is a technology that embeds transaction request information into encrypted sound waves transmitted through a speaker, receives this data via a smartphone's microphone to authenticate the user, and enables payment.

Traditional transmission technologies used in fintech included Near Field Communication (NFC), iBeacon, and Bluetooth. Utilizing these technologies requires devices such as terminals or tags and presents security issues. Sonic Code, however, utilizes inaudible sound waves—patterns in the high-frequency band that are inaudible to the human ear—enabling implementation with only an internet connection, a speaker, and a microphone, even without dedicated terminals or the latest mobile devices.

It has the advantage of being usable on all smartphones and requiring no separate device other than a speaker, making it easier to distribute and cheaper to build infrastructure than NFC or QR codes. The recognition speed of Sonic Code is approximately 0.2 seconds, and a recognition distance of around 30 cm is sufficient. QR codes require scanning with a camera, but this can be used without such a separate input action.

Users can log in to online sites without entering an ID or password, and use internet banking and make payments at online shopping malls without going through payment processes such as installing plugins or entering card numbers. Payments are also possible at offline stores with just a smartphone, without the need for a separate payment infrastructure. Furthermore, convenient money transfers between users are possible both in-person and remotely as long as they are within sound wave detection range.

"It takes about 30 seconds to log in and make a payment using existing bank certificates. Sonic Code reduces the steps from authentication to payment to make it possible in just 3 seconds," explained CTO Lee Dong-ho. "It supports 281 trillion simultaneously available codes. There is no issue with duplicate sound wave codes."

It emphasizes not only convenience but also security. Existing QR code-based mobile payments face issues such as hacking caused by screen captures or fake QR codes, as well as abnormal payments. In contrast, Sonic Code transmits payment information via sound waves, ensuring that payments operate only within the server. Focusing on the transmission of payment information, it integrates with security technologies such as PKI authentication, transaction-linked OTPs that block memory hacking, and the storage of authentication elements within a Trust Zone.

CTO Lee Dong-ho said, “Infosonic developed everything in-house, starting with the DB server. If you pay the license fee, we provide the sequence and architecture.” “We are creating and uploading new demos and making them available for customers to use,” he said. “There are long-distance and short-distance transmissions, but we are focusing on short-distance. We have achieved a short-distance transmission error detection rate of 99.999994!?”

He emphasized, “People think that superior security comes at the expense of convenience, and high convenience comes at the expense of security, but Infosonic has a strength in meeting the three goals of security, convenience, and low cost.”