News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: Caen bids for NFC • Sprint adds mobile wallet • Vivotech’s Dubai deal • Microsoft tags retailers • Mobile payments boost banks • Paying cash keeps you slim • NCR buys into mobile barcodes More
- CWC sessions you may have missed: Transdev, Smart Payment Association, European Central Bank
- Transdev reports on hands-free transport ticketing pilot
- Smart Payment Association reports on new instant payments model that leverages existing bank card, merchant terminal and banking infrastructure
- European Central Bank reports on digital euro for Contactless World Congress
- Linxens reports on the market outlook for biometric cards, display cards, dynamic CVVs, sustainable substrates and more
China Unicom to launch commercial NFC services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing in November
China’s second largest mobile network operator is preparing to launch commercial NFC services in four cities from next month, according to reports in the Chinese media. Commuters in Beijing will be able to make payments using either an NFC phone or an add-on to their existing phone. More
European Payments Council and GSMA publish specifications for Trusted Service Managers
The European Payments Council (EPC) and the GSMA have published a joint paper that defines a minimum set of requirements for a Trusted Service Manger (TSM) acting as the interface between a bank and a mobile operator in a SIM-based NFC service. More
HID Global launches combined contactless payment and ticketing device platform
HID Global has introduced a new embedded reader platform which is designed to make it easy for solutions providers to develop services that combine both closed and open loop payment schemes as well as leading transport ticketing technologies and protocols. More
Datacard acquires in-branch NFC payments personalization provider
Datacard has acquired Dynamic Card Solutions (DCS), providers of the CardWizard Perso-to-Go instant in-branch card personalization and issuing solution used by 500 banks, predominantly in the US. More
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ACS adds biometrics to NFC reader
Hong Kong-based Advanced Card Systems (ACS) has launched a new NFC reader which incorporates a fingerprint sensor, enabling biometric identification and verification to be added to PC-based contactless and near field communication applications. More
Chunghwa Telecom to test Bluetooth NFC device in Taipei
The Taiwanese mobile network operator is to field test an innovative NFC device that supports both card emulation mode for payments, ticketing and customer loyalty applications and tag reading for mobile marketing applications and communicates with the user’s phone via Bluetooth. More
NFC news in brief • 18 Oct 2010
News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: Mass transit aims for contactless standard • O2’s location-based ads • Mobile barcode usage up 700% • RF-SIM supplier set for IPO • Proximity advertising to net $6bn in 2015 • UK leads US in coupon interest • and more… More
Consortium wins funding to develop specialist NFC TSM for home healthcare services
A new consortium formed by IT services provider Extelia, NFC specialist Inside Contactless and French regional social services provider Abrapa has won funding from the French government to develop a trusted third party platform designed to deliver an improved service to the elderly and other recipients of home care services. More
Israeli bank to launch combined NFC and mobile barcode payments system
The new service, to be launched by the end of 2010, will use technology developed by DigiMo to enable Israeli consumers to make payments at the point-of-sale with their mobile phone using their choice of an NFC phone, a sticker attached to their existing phone or a 2D barcode. More
Proxama and Tuxedo announce NFC solution for prepaid cards
NFC specialist Proxama has partnered with white label prepaid card issuer Tuxedo Money Solutions to introduce an NFC-enabled version of prepaid MasterCard PayPass contactless cards. More
Bank of America NFC trial to focus on customer experience
Bank of America’s trial of DeviceFidelity’s microSD format NFC solution in New York will focus on the customer experience, the bank’s Michael Upton has told Bank Info Security in an in-depth interview. More
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Visa aims to partner with Silicon Valley mobile payments innovators
Visa’s head of mobile, Bill Gajda, recruited from the GSM Association earlier this year, is spending much of his time convincing Silicon Valley companies they should partner with the payments processing giant rather than try to go it alone with new mobile payments technologies, a Forbes profile explains. More
NFC bank branch developer A Little World raises $18m from State Bank of India
State Bank of India (SBI) has acquired a 20% stake in A Little World (ALW), developer of an NFC-based low cost bank branch solution, DealCurry reports. SBI has paid INR800m (US$18m) for the stake, valuing A Little World at INR4,000m (US$90m approx). More
KT to launch commercial NFC service with new Samsung handset, Android NFC devices to follow
KT, Korea’s second largest mobile network operator, is to launch a commercial NFC service at the end of October using a new NFC phone made by Samsung. The SHW-A170K feature phone is to be followed with a range of Android NFC phones and KT predicts that, by 2015, NFC phones will account for 47% of sales. More
Sony and HID Global to bring NFC to laptop PCs
HID Global and Sony have announced plans to enter into a strategic partnership to jointly develop an embedded contactless smart card reader platform for laptop PCs. The new platform will support Sony’s FeliCa contactless card technology and HID’s iClass technology as well as near field communication and will be built using HID’s Trusted Identity Platform (TIP) technology. More
Nokia C7 to support NFC
Nokia’s new C7 smartphone includes an NFC chip that will allow the device to support near field communication functionality — once work on a software upgrade has been completed. More
NFC news in brief • 11 Oct 2010
News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: First Osaifu-Keitai smartphone • Antenna designer broadcasts Samsung success • St Petersburg metro test • NFC is key to BMW’s Connected Drive • NFC Forum’s new member • Gauthier moves to PayPal • Toro and Collis partner up • and more… More
Asia-Pacific mobile payments market to double in five years
The Asia-Pacific mobile payments market is set to double to US$3.6bn by 2015, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan. More
EMV adoption reaches one billion cards and 15m terminals
EMVCo, the payments chip card standards body owned by MasterCard, Visa, American Express and JCB, has revealed that there are now more than one billion EMV cards and 15.4 million EMV terminals in use around the world. More