“My ambition would be to engage a very substantial proportion of the O2 customer base,” James Le Brocq, head of O2 UK’s financial services division, told NFC World, as the mobile network operator confirmed plans to launch commercial NFC services in the UK later this year. More
United Kingdom
Yapi Kredi Bank and Turkcell to launch NFC payments service using Visa’s iPhone add-on
A survey conducted by Visa Europe in the UK, Italy, Poland and Turkey in advance of the launch has found that 87% of iPhone users would be willing to attach an add-on to their phone in order to make mobile payments. More
Orange and Barclaycard set date for UK’s first commercial NFC service
British consumers will be able to use NFC phones to make payments at stores across the country from the second quarter of this year, Barclaycard and Everything Everywhere have announced. More
Orange to roll out NFC services across Europe in 2011
Orange will begin introducing NFC services “in the majority of countries in which it has a presence” in 2011, the mobile network operator has told mobile phone manufacturers at a meeting in Paris on 15 December... More
Pub chain Yates’s partners with Waspit for launch of NFC payments service in the UK
Mobile payments specialist Waspit has announced it is to launch a new open loop NFC payments service at the Ad:Tech conference and exhibition in New York on 3 November... More
First Data joint venture to offer mobile contactless loyalty service to merchants in UK and Ireland
AIB Merchant Services’ new Loyaltyplus service integrates Zapa’s mobile contactless technology into merchants’ POS terminals, enabling even the smallest retailer to offer an NFC-compatible customer loyalty programme — from only €30 a month. More
Telefónica O2 launches its first commercial NFC service — and sets out strategy for future deployments
The mobile network operator is starting small with a limited rollout in the Czech city of Pilsen but a business strategy is now in place and commercial launches in the UK and Spain could be next. More
UK’s Dept for Transport reports on 18-month NFC ticketing project
The UK’s Department for Transport has published an in-depth report on the findings from an 18-month research project investigating the potential of NFC in transport ticketing... More
Transport for London buys Oyster brand name, plans extra services and move to mobile ticketing
“Oyster has the potential to be used for so much more than simply getting around the capital, and the technology is there to make it even more convenient for Londoners to use by integrating it into mobile phones or bank cards,” says the Mayor of London’s transport advisor. More
Barclaycard and Orange to launch commercial NFC service by the end of 2010
Card issuer Barclaycard and mobile network operator Orange are to launch a commercial NFC service in the UK before the end of 2010, a senior Barclaycard executive has revealed... More
Barclays increases contactless transaction limit by 50%
Barclays Bank has increased the transaction limit for contactless cards from £10 to £15... More
Orange and Barclaycard move towards NFC payments launch
The British bank and the mobile network operator have launched a co-branded credit card, described as “the next step in the partnership between Orange and Barclaycard to deliver contactless mobile payments.” More
UK government to fund switch to NFC-compatible transport ticketing
The Department for Transport is providing £20m in funding over the next five years to enable nine of England’s largest urban areas to make the switch to NFC-compatible transport ticketing systems. 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
Telefónica launches O2 Money, says it is ready to deploy NFC
The new O2 Money offering is a low-tech prepaid card solution for now but, says O2, this is just the first step in the operator’s plans to be at the forefront of the move towards the rollout of NFC technology in the UK. More
NHS tests NFC for home care visits
The UK’s National Health Service is conducting several pilots of O2’s new Homecare solution, designed to help both homecare workers and patients access and share information. More
Orange and Barclaycard partner to launch NFC in the UK
All customers are expected to be able to use their phones to pay for everyday items within three years in “the biggest revolution in payments since plastic cards were introduced over 40 years ago.” More
UK Department for Transport completes NFC bus ticketing trial
A small-scale test has taken place in the north-west of England which utilised mobile phones to buy bus tickets using NFC and the UK’s ITSO ticketing standard. More
London Underground signals move to NFC
Transport for London’s new ticketing contract will drive the switch to next generation ticketing, London Underground’s managing director has confirmed. More