VeriFone, Ingenico, Vivotech and Equinox are all adding support for the US NFC venture’s SmartTap service, enabling merchants to both accept payments and process coupons and offers via Isis mobile phones. More
USA
Top US retailers to develop their own NFC mobile wallet
Walmart and Target are among a group of two dozen retailers working on the introduction of an NFC mobile wallet which would compete directly with Isis and Google Wallet, the Wall Street Journal reports. More
Chase picks Gemalto for NFC
The announcement earlier today of a deal between Chase and carrier-led NFC joint venture Isis is just the start of the US banking giant’s NFC plans, the company has revealed... More
Isis announces first banking partners: Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard US sign up
The three card issuers’ 100 million customers will be able to store a full range of credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as loyalty cards and special offer coupons, on their NFC mobile phones. More
SXSW attendees to get NFC business cards
Online identity management start-up Vizibility is offering 1,000 attendees at SXSW 2012 Interactive the chance to get a free NFC business card they can use to share contact information and personal details as well as connect on LinkedIn and Facebook... More
Isis details NFC wallet plans
“The Isis mobile wallet, set for release in two US cities this summer, will feature a prepaid card with cash already loaded and a capability to ‘follow’ participating merchants to receive coupons and other offers,” reports Digital Transactions, which attended an event held by Isis last week in Austin, Texas... More
Moneto adds Android NFC payments
Support for a range of Android phones based on Samsung’s Galaxy S has been added to NFC supplier DeviceFidelity’s Moneto service... More
Isis discusses Salt Lake City NFC pilot plans
The Isis NFC pilots due to take place in Salt Lake City and Austin from this summer will run for six to twelve months before a nationwide rollout begins, the carrier-led joint venture’s Jim Stapleton has told delegates attending the Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit... More
Lexus to insert NFC ad in Wired
The marketing campaign for the 2013 Lexus GS sport sedan is to include an NFC tagged insert “in select copies” of the April edition of Wired magazine... More
California retailers test NFC digital receipts
Twelve merchants in the Bay Area are taking part in a pilot trial of an NFC digital receipt system that works with a US$50 device and has no transaction charges. More
Blue Bite reports results of US NFC marketing campaign
A campaign for travel app HotelTonight, which combined promotional videos shown on digital screens with the ability to download the app via NFC, QR code, Bluetooth or WiFi, saw a small but promising number of interactions via NFC, says the mobile marketing platform provider. More
MasterCard publishes roadmap for moving the US to EMV and NFC
The payments giant has set out its plans for moving the US from magnetic stripe card technology to chip cards and NFC phones. The plans include incentives for merchants, integrated customer loyalty programmes and support for dynamic authentication technologies. More
HID reports results of NFC pilot at Arizona State University
The access control specialist’s NFC campus pilot is now complete, all participants are reporting positive results and a video showing the system in action has been produced. More
Google Wallet finds its way onto the Verizon Galaxy Nexus
Just a few days after the launch of the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon, Android enthusiasts have found a number of ways to get around the US carrier’s attempt to block Google Wallet from its version of the phone and users are now successfully making NFC payments. More
Chevron to test Google Wallet
Six hundred Chevron gas stations in the US are to begin accepting Google Wallet payments and will “send out signage and other point-of-purchase (POP) material to stations before year’s end,” CSP Daily News reports... More
San Francisco gets NFC parking meters
All of the city’s 30,800 parking meters are being equipped with NFC stickers that allow drivers to pay for parking with their NFC phones, get a reminder when their parking time runs out and add extra parking time wherever they are. More
Isis picks Gemalto for NFC mobile commerce platform
The core trusted service management (TSM) platform to be used by the US NFC joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless will be provided by France-based Gemalto. More
Verizon and Google fire first shots in the mobile wallet wars
“Recent reports that Verizon is blocking Google Wallet on our devices are false,” says Verizon. “We are continuing our commercial discussions with Google on this issue.” More
Snack machines go Google
US-based vending machine technology provider Cantaloupe Systems has equipped 6,000 units in San Francisco, Chicago and the mid-Atlantic region to accept Google Wallet, AllthingsD reports, while Chicago-based Mark Vend plans to convert half its 2,000 machines in the first half of 2012... More
Narian upgrades retail app
US NFC specialist Narian Technologies has released a new version of its Android-based NFC platform for retail... More