The rollout of contactless payments is gathering pace in Australia, with 500 merchants in Melbourne set to install contactless terminals this month. The transaction limit is being increased to A$100, with no PIN required — expanding the use of contactless transactions beyond the small purchase levels previously set in Australia and elsewhere. The new limit means consumers will be able to pay by contactless (and, later, by NFC) for their fuel purchases as well as for coffees and other quick serve items. Will other countries follow? Read the full announcement from Visa Australia here. More
- NFC Forum certifies Cilab for TR13.1 wireless charging testing
- ST provides insight into using NFC tags to enhance consumer experiences
- NFC Forum adds certification for NFC wireless charging
- NP Plastibell adds ultra-miniaturised ST NFC tags to pre-filled syringes
- German luggage brand leverages NFC for product authentication and customer engagement
Korean card issuers plan MVNOs in bid to control mobile wallets
Two of Korea’s leading card issuers are seeking to launch their own Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services, in a bid to ensure they are in control of their customers’ mobile wallets. More
OnPoint Community Credit Union chooses NFC micro-SD supplier Tyfone for mobile banking launch
The credit union will use Tyfone’s u4ia platform to deliver a ‘standard’ mobile banking service but, says OnPoint, “Tyfone’s unique secure memory card technology gives us exceptional flexibility to deliver some very exciting new member services down the road.” More
BYU-Idaho students spend, spend, spend with their NFC phones
Students taking part in a new trial of micro-SD based NFC payments at Brigham Young University in Idaho have already used their phones to buy everything from candy bars to $1,600 laptops. More
Visa launches NFC trial in Brazil
The small scale payments trial, run in conjunction with mobile operator Claro and two banks, is one of several moves towards NFC now taking place in Brazil. More
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Akbank and Turkcell test NFC in Istanbul
The small scale trial is being run in conjunction with MasterCard, Giesecke & Devrient, E-Kart and Venyon. More
French government funds thirteen NFC and RFID innovation projects
Plans to add NFC to Android phones, to develop a universal NFC wallet user interface and to test an NFC-based museum information system at the Pompidou Centre in Paris are amongst the projects that will receive grants worth a total of ‘several million euros’. More
Look to Shanghai for the future of NFC in China — and beyond
OPINION: It looks as though Shanghai is now set to be the venue for a new series of mobile contactless payment initiatives from China’s mobile operators, banks and public transport providers. More
The NFC Report: Is China heading towards the adoption of NFC?
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator with 470 million subscribers, and China Unionpay, the national bank card association, were amongst the first in the world to field test NFC back in 2006. Now, both companies are taking a second look at mobile contactless payments and mobile operator China Unicom is getting in on the action too… More
What kind of Trusted Service Managers is NFC likely to need — and how many will there be?
GUEST COMMENT: We’re unlikely to end up with a single TSM per country, or per region, or per operator — which isn’t what many people imagined when the TSM model became current, writes Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion. More
Over-C announces comprehensive NFC-based solution for managing remote workers
“By 2012, 80% of security guards in private security will be NFC-equipped,” says Michael Elliott of NFC-based remote worker management specialists Over-C, whose technology is already used by security staff at Marks & Spencer and at all London Overground stations. More
Jobs Board: New vacancies at ITSO, Touchatag and Qualcomm
On the NFC Jobs Board this week there are three new vacancies at Touchatag, ITSO is looking for a CEO to drive forward the UK government’s smart ticketing project, Qualcomm has additional vacancies and openings remain at Microsoft and at Orange Labs in France. More
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How successful are NFC stickers and microSD solutions likely to be?
A new white paper compares the advantages and disadvantages of alternative NFC form factors — and looks at how much market share each technology is likely to gain. More
NTT Docomo reports 10 million mobile credit card customers
There are now over ten million subscribers to NTT Docomo’s Osaifu-Keitai based mobile credit card payment service DCMX and, overall, a total of 30 million Docomo subscribers are now equipped with Osaifu-Keitai handsets. More
NFC Forum and Mobey Forum to work together on the development of mobile payments standards
The NFC trade association has signed a collaboration agreement with the international mobile financial services forum to develop open standards for the delivery of secure, interoperable mobile financial transactions. More
UK government, operators and banks agree NFC payments rules
New fraud prevention guidelines aim to ‘design out opportunities for crime and reduce harm to consumers,’ says the UK’s Home Office. More
National ticketing project could use NFC and contactless to save £2bn a year, says UK’s Dept for Transport
A consultation paper published by the UK’s Department for Transport sets out plans for a national, integrated ticketing system that could save £2bn a year. More
Gearing up for handset production
OPINION: In some ways, NFC seems very simple. Stick an RF antenna in a phone, link it to a secure element so that sensitive data can be stored safely, and off you go. Or maybe not… More
What’s the current state and future potential of NFC in the Americas?
Work is now almost complete on the Asia-Pacific section of The NFC Report, the new research report being written by Near Field Communications World’s editor, Sarah Clark. Now, our attention is turning to the Americas… More
Jobs Board: Want to get involved in adding NFC to Windows Mobile?
We’ve three new vacancies on the NFC Jobs Board, including a Program Manager for connectivity reliability for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Connectivity team, covering everything from NFC to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to WiMax… More