Aspects of the disclosure relate to light-weight and secure payment processing using low-power wide-area network technology. A mobile device may detect communication conditions associated with a payment transaction based on one or more parameters. The mobile device may identify applicability of LPWAN communication based on the communication conditions. Based on identifying the applicability of low-power wide-area network communication, the mobile device may identify a payment terminal within a threshold proximity of the mobile device. The mobile device may connect to the payment terminal via a low-power wide-area network protocol. The mobile device may transmit, via the low-power wide-area network protocol, a request to initiate the payment transaction at the payment terminal. The mobile device may cause the payment transaction to be executed using the low-power wide-area network protocol.