A disruptive technology in payments?

Is start-up Noca onto something in the payments industry? It certainly thinks so. It just launched a "financial interchange platform" that will charge radically low fees: Just 0.25 percent of the transaction, according to CNET. Compare that with up to 4 percent for major credit card processors and online services. The service basically enables direct checking account debits much cheaper.

The company is emphasizing security as well as cost, which seems smart. Transactions are encrypted by Noca's servers; merchants never see the checking account or bank routing numbers consumers must enter. Which is similar to PayPal, the article notes. We'll see if this takes off. It would help if the company had some major retailers. The company is headed by PJ Gupta, who was once in charge of Visa's network architecture. 

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