Possible use cases for Bluetooth low energy include proximity marketing, transit and event ticketing, and indoor navigation in retail stores, arenas and stadiums. Then, of course, there is payments–although it remains unclear how a BLE-based payments service would operate, and the concept remains mostly hypothetical, according to a new report on BLE from the Smart Card Alliance industry group.

“As security concerns are addressed, BLE may become a common and trusted transport layer for mobile marketing, mobile services, and, potentially, mobile payment,” said the report, prepared for the industry group by a team of experts under lead author Michael English of Heartland Payment Systems. “It is likely to grow initially as a complement to current technologies, as business concerns and related applications deal with evolving security practices and current merchant infrastructure and systems.”