OPINION: Despite a raft of recent announcements by those involved in the development of NFC handsets, it’s clear that contactless stickers still have an important role to play in the widespread adoption of NFC. 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
The NFCW Jobs Board: 3 April 2009 vacancies
There are three new opportunities on the NFCW Jobs Board this week, including a vacancy for a product manager for Visa Europe’s NFC and contactless initiatives… More
Citibank, Visa announce NFC trial in Singapore with operator M1
Citi M1 Platinum Visa cardholders will be able to use their mobile phones to make contactless payments linked to their credit card account at any merchant equipped to handle Visa payWave contactless transactions. More
Belgacom launches PingPing, tests NFC stickers
The Belgian telecoms operator has launched a series of mobile payment initiatives under the new PingPing banner and has partnered with Accor Services, Coca-Cola and supermarket chain Delhaize to test three different applications for NFC tag payments. More
Eagle Eye Solutions and Vivotech to offer retailers NFC mobile vouchers
The two companies are combining their mobile couponing solutions to enable retailers to offer promotional, gift or loyalty vouchers to customers via either standard SMS text messages or directly to their NFC-enabled mobile phones. More
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NFC Forum announces partnership with ETSI, global competition finalists
The twenty companies on the shortlist for the titles of “The Best NFC Service of the Year” and “The Most Innovative NFC Research Project of the Year” have been revealed… More
Mastercard and Blaze Mobile launch PayPass mobile stickers
The new Blaze Mobile Mastercard PayPass sticker can be attached to any phone and is seen as a bridge to offering full NFC capabilities. More
Sicap offers single platform for SIM-based, MicroSD or in-device NFC provisioning
The company says it is the first to offer a single solution for provisioning NFC applications over-the-air, regardless of how the customer’s NFC functionality has been implemented. More
Now any Bluetooth handset can do NFC — for just $25
OPINION: Yet another way to get around the absence of NFC handsets has been announced this week and, this time, it’s a really strong contender. More
The NFCW Jobs Board: 20 March 2009 vacancies
There are fourteen new opportunities on the NFCW Jobs Board this week in the US, Canada, France, the UK and India. Recruiters include Microsoft and Inside Contactless and the offers range from Director-level openings to software development vacancies. More
Atmel and TazTag collaborate on NFC wallet
The smart card chip manufacturer and the French start-up are working together to bring to market the TazCard, a 6mm thick card-sized smart object with a touch screen, fingerprint sensor and NFC, USB and ZigBee interfaces that could be used for access control, ticketing, couponing and payment applications. More
Mobilkom Austria customers to use NFC tags to access WAP pages
The mobile operator has put together a combined NFC handset/NFC tag package for customers that uses the tags to access WAP pages, including an option to buy ÖBB rail tickets. More
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Cubic to offer NFC upgrade capability to major transit systems
Transit ticketing supplier Cubic has partnered with Vivotech to offer its customers, who include the transit operators for London, Washington and New York/New Jersey, the ability to upgrade their ticketing systems to accept payment via contactless cards and NFC phones. More
Cell Idea adds NFC to any Bluetooth phone
UPDATED Consumers can simply pair the company’s new ‘With Me’ device, expected to retail at US$25, with their existing Bluetooth phone in order to NFC-enable their handset. More
Fonelabs launches range of low-cost NFC phones
The firm’s X-Series handsets incorporate an NFC chip and internal antenna plus an optional MicroSD-based secure element from Cell Idea. They are fully Mifare compatible and are expected to start at under US$100 in volume. More
Telefónica and Sermepa launch NFC pilot in Spain
The mobile operator and the bank-owned transaction processing supplier are testing a Mobile Virtual Wallet with potential applications in payments, transport, healthcare and personal identification. More
Vivotech awarded key OTA provisioning patent, wins new funding
The contactless and NFC infrastructure specialist has been granted a broad patent covering the over-the-air provisioning of payments cards, loyalty cards and other non-payments cards to NFC phones — and has also secured an extra US$8.6m in funding. More
NXP transfers its mobile services business to Gemalto
NXP and Gemalto have signed a deal that will see Gemalto taking over NXP’s mobile services business unit in Sophia Antipolis. 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
Inside and Gemalto offer NFC solution for handset makers
The new product offering uses the Single Wire Protocol to securely link a Gemalto SIM card with an embedded secure element from Inside Contactless. More