SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS TAP TRANSACTIONS WITH A PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT AND MOBILE DEVICE

1 . A method of reducing exposure and manual input of sensitive information in association with transactions between users, the method comprising:

receiving, by an application on a mobile device of a first user, an indication that a financial transaction has been processed for a bill between a first user and a merchant using the mobile device and a point-of-sale device of the merchant, wherein the bill is processed on behalf of the first user;

displaying, by the application at the mobile device, a user interface presenting an amount, the amount being a portion of the bill for which a second user is responsible;

responsive to receiving a user selection of a button at the mobile device, presenting, by the application at the mobile device, an indication on the user interface to tap a physical instrument to the mobile device to conduct a transaction which utilizes the physical instrument to pay for the amount, wherein the physical instrument is associated with the second user;

activating a short range wireless communication module of the mobile device to read data from nearby wireless communication modules;

based on a tap of the physical instrument to the mobile device, wirelessly reading identifier information of the physical instrument from a wireless communication module of the physical instrument using the short range wireless communication module of the mobile device;

communicating, by the mobile device of the first user, the identifier information to a payment server to initiate processing of a reimbursement for a portion of the bill associated with the second user;

receiving authorization from the payment server to process the reimbursement between a first account associated with the physical instrument and a second account associated with the mobile device based on the read identifier information; and

initiating, by the application, the transaction between the first account and the second account.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a notification summarizing the transaction to the first account.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the notification summarizing the transaction is provided to the first account via one of an email associated with the first account or via a SMS/MMS message to the mobile device.

4 . (canceled)

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the short range wireless communication module of the mobile device utilizes near field communication (NFC) to wirelessly read the identifier information of the physical instrument from the wireless communication module of the physical instrument.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the short range wireless communication module of the mobile device utilizes a protocol for NFC data exchange format (NDEF) to wirelessly read the identifier information of the physical instrument from the wireless communication module of the physical instrument.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical instrument is a card and the short range wireless communication module of the physical instrument comprises an NFC-enabled chip.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein activating the short range wireless communication module of the mobile device includes activating a search mode to sniff for the nearby wireless communication modules to read and store data from the nearby wireless communication modules.

9 . A mobile device comprising:

a short range wireless communication module configured to read data from nearby wireless communication modules; and

one or more processors to execute instructions of an application to:

receive, via an application on the mobile device, an indication that a financial transaction has been processed for a bill between a first user and a merchant using the mobile device and a point-of-sale device of the merchant, wherein the bill is processed on behalf of the first user;

display a user interface presenting an amount, the amount being a portion of the bill for which a second user is responsible;

responsive to receiving a user selection of a button, present an indication on the user interface to tap a physical instrument to the mobile device to conduct a transaction which utilizes the physical instrument to pay for the amount, wherein the physical instrument is associated with the second user;

based on a tap of the physical instrument to the mobile device, wirelessly read identifier information of the physical instrument from a wireless communication module of the physical instrument using the short range wireless communication module;

communicate, by the mobile device, the identifier information to a payment server to initiate processing of a reimbursement for a portion of the bill associated with the second user;

receive authorization from the payment server to process the reimbursement between a first account associated with the physical instrument and a second account associated with the mobile device based on the read identifier information; and

initiate the transaction between a first account associated with the physical instrument and a second account associated with the mobile device based on the read identifier information.

10 . The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide a notification summarizing the transaction to the first account.

11 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the notification summarizing the transaction is provided to the first account via an email associated with the first account.

12 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the notification summarizing the transaction is provided via SMS/MMS message to a user device associated with the first account.

13 . The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the short range wireless communication module of the mobile device is configured to utilize near field communication (NFC) to wirelessly read the identifier information of the physical instrument from the wireless communication module of the physical instrument.

14 . The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the short range wireless communication module of the mobile device is configured to utilize a protocol for NFC data exchange format (NDEF) to wirelessly read the identifier information of the physical instrument from the wireless communication module of the physical instrument.

15 . The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the physical instrument is a card and the short range wireless communication module of the physical instrument comprises an NFC-enabled chip.

16 . The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to activate the short range wireless communication module of the mobile device, including activating a search mode to sniff for the nearby wireless communication modules to read and store data from the nearby wireless communication modules.

17 . The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.

18 . Non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a mobile device, cause the mobile device to:

receive, via an application on the mobile device, an indication that a financial transaction has been processed for a bill between a first user and a merchant using the mobile device and a point-of-sale device of the merchant, wherein the bill is processed on behalf of the first user;

display a user interface presenting an amount, the amount being a portion of the bill for which a second user is responsible;

responsive to receiving a user selection of a button, present an indication on the user interface to tap a physical instrument to the mobile device to conduct a transaction which utilizes the physical instrument to pay for the amount, wherein the physical instrument is associated with the second user;

activate a short range wireless communication module of the mobile device to read data from nearby wireless communication modules;

based on a tap of the physical instrument to the mobile device, wirelessly read identifier information of the physical instrument from a wireless communication module of the physical instrument using the short range wireless communication module;

communicate, by the mobile device, the identifier information to a payment server to initiate processing of a reimbursement for a portion of the bill associated with the second user;

receive authorization from the payment server to process the reimbursement between a first account associated with the physical instrument and a second account associated with the mobile device based on the read identifier information; and

initiate the transaction between a first account associated with the physical instrument and a second account associated with the mobile device based on the read identifier information.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 18 , wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions further cause the mobile device to provide a notification summarizing the transaction to the first account.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein the notification summarizing the transaction is provided to the first account via at least one of an email or SMS/MMS message to a user device associated with the first account.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier information of the physical instrument is transferred directly from the physical instrument to the mobile device locally without utilizing a connection with the payment server.