“At this stage, we will not be progressing with microSD as a contactless payment technology platform,” says the Australian banking giant. More
ANZ Bank: We like NFC, but not via microSD
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Proxama unveils NFC Murder Mystery game
The hi-tech version of a traditional murder mystery game uses NFC phones and tags to allow participants to discover clues hidden around a venue and to accuse their choice of suspect. More
Deutsche Telekom awards custom NFC SIM development contract
The planned international rollout of NFC services to Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and Era mobile networks will use bespoke NFC SIMs developed by Giesecke & Devrient. The new SIMs will be “functionally expanded” and “go beyond the standardised NFC functions”. More
VingCard launches NFC room key system for hotels
The hotel room key market leader, part of the Assa Abloy group which recently ran an NFC trial at the Clarion Hotel Stockholm, has now brought the technology to market. More
Hicel launches NFC business cards
Korean manufacturer Hicel has introduced a digital business card that combines the features of traditional cards with NFC functionality... More
BPCE and Visa to test NFC microSD in Nice and Strasbourg
BPCE, France’s second largest banking group and owner of both Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne, is teaming up with Visa to conduct a pilot test of NFC MicroSD cards in the cities of Nice and Strasbourg this autumn... More
ZTE signs NFC phone deal with Inside Secure
The Chinese handset manufacturer will integrate Inside’s NFC technology into its GSM and next-generation TD-SCDMA smart phone platform, which is based on the Android operating system. More
NFC could reduce banks and mobile operators to low value ‘bit pipes’, warns KPN
“We need to own the market space and prevent market differentiation before any other party enters the market with enough money,” says Peter Van Leeuwen of KPN, a partner in the Dutch NFC joint venture that includes both banks and mobile operators. More
Orange to introduce first international NFC payments service
From this summer, subscribers to the UK’s Quick Tap NFC service will be able to use their phones to make payments in Nice, home of the French Cityzi NFC service. More
Vivotech raises $24m in funding
NFC specialist Vivotech has closed a US$24 million Series C round of funding... More
NFC news in brief • 27 June 2011
News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: Korea gets NFC Forum test lab • Verayo hires CTO from Apple • US Bank issues contactless EMV cards • SPVA releases secure payment device standards • Majority don’t trust mobile phone companies • 20m Visa contactless cards in UK by end of year • Groupon ties deals to loyalty cards • Identive appoints NFC VP • and more… More
NFC-enabled advertising network plans IPO
Out-of-house (OOH) media company RMG Networks, which unveiled an NFC-enabled advertising network in April, is in talks with banks about an initial public offering (IPO) to raise more than US$250m, Bloomberg reports:... More
Beeline and Alfa-Bank launch Russian mobile payments brand
The Russian bank and mobile network operator have created a new payments system called RuRu that will begin with mobile and ecommerce, P2P transfers and mobile remittances. NFC services will follow “in the near future.” More
Survey: Discounts and coupons will drive adoption of mobile payments
A survey of 1,036 US adult consumers, conducted by StrategyOne on behalf of Verifone, has found that almost twice as many are interested in using mobile payments if the service also includes a way to get discounts and coupons on their phones... More
Tesco Korea points to the future of mobile grocery shopping
A test conducted by Home Plus, Korea’s second largest supermarket chain and 95% owned by UK-based grocery giant Tesco, highlights the potential for mobile proximity technologies to transform the way retailers operate... More
DeviceFidelity granted new NFC patent
NFC microSD specialist DeviceFidelity has been awarded a US patent, number 7,942,337, for “an implementation of near field communication (NFC) technology for enabling mobile devices to function like mobile wallets capable of conducting payment, access, transit and other contactless transactions using credentials issued by multiple different enterprises through points of sale terminals.”... More
Danish mobile operators create NFC joint venture
“Everything we currently physically have in our wallet or purse will soon be available digitally on our SIM card,” say TDC, Telenor, TeliaSonera and 3. More
Google tests NFC in Tokyo
The search giant has distributed custom NFC base stations to merchants in Tokyo’s Roppongi district that let shoppers rate and review merchants — and allow Google to serve recommendations on additional locations based on the places consumers say they like. More
Schmidt: One-third of merchants could get NFC POS terminals ‘in the next year’
Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, believes that a third of POS terminals in retail stores and restaurants will be upgraded to allow NFC payments within the next year, the Financial Times reports — and credit card companies will foot the bill... More
IDA demos NFC ‘smart shopping’ service
Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), the government agency tasked with implementing a national NFC infrastructure for Singapore, is demonstrating a number of “rich mobile NFC services” at the imbX tradeshow in Singapore... More