Mobile network operator Vodafone is expanding the functionality of its mobile wallet beyond NFC with a deal to add Austria-based Bluesource’s Mobile-Pocket technology to the service, enabling customers to store hundreds of loyalty, membership, transit and promotional cards in their Vodafone wallet by simply scanning them in using the camera on their smartphone. More
Retailer-owned mobile payments provider Yapital is to add “one click” purchases from printed advertising media to its app, enabling shoppers to order and pay for promoted products by scanning QR codes in merchants’ billboard and newspaper ads, flyers and shop window decals... More
A new Nintendo Figurine Platform and a range of NFC toys that makes use of the NFC functionality in the Wii U GamePad is to be unveiled at the E3 games show next month, company president Satoru Iwata has announced. A standalone device that will enable NFC toys to be used with the Nintendo 3DS handheld console will also be introduced and NFC payments for games are to added, initially in Japan, from this summer. More
New York-based drugstore chain Duane Reade has upgraded its iPhone app to include support for iBeacons and ten of its 240 New York stores have been equipped with Bluetooth LE beacons in a bid to “foster greater customer engagement.”... More
Groupe Le Duff, owner of 1,260 restaurants and bakeries, is piloting a mobile wallet developed by mobile shopping solutions provider Airtag in 20 of its Brioche Dorée quick service bakery outlets in France... More
Deutsche Telekom has launched MyWallet, an NFC service that allows customers with any of 18 supported Samsung and Sony Android NFC devices to make payments at MasterCard PayPass merchants... More
Transaction services provider Worldline has unveiled Connected Kitchen, an electronic fridge magnet aimed at online food retailers that lets consumers add everyday products to their shopping list as they use them, by scanning the product’s barcode or through a speech recognition feature... More
Spain’s CaixaBank has become the first bank in Europe to launch a Facebook application that allows users to view their bank accounts and perform transactions via the social network... More
Starting today, NFC World has a new name and a new mission — to report on the full array of emerging technologies that are transforming how consumers choose what to buy, who to buy from, and how to pay... More
More than 1,000 film fans attending last month’s Tribeca Film Festival tapped a promotional poster with an NFC phone to get a free movie ticket, technology providers HID Global and Tamoco report... More
Customers of Canadian carrier Rogers can now add a range of merchant gift cards, managed by prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network, to their Suretap NFC mobile wallets... More
Exhibition and convention centre ExCel London is to use technology from Poken to provide event organisers with an NFC-based digital networking and content collection platform... More
US-based startup Dimple has developed a US$27 sticker for Android NFC smartphones which contains four buttons that the user can personalize to perform their choice of NFC quick actions... More
Orange Poland has launched NFC Pass, a new service that builds on its existing Orange Cash platform to enable customers to make debit card payments using their NFC phone... More
Samsung has expanded its NFC phone range with the addition of the Galaxy K Zoom... More
Fans attending gigs by Warner Music act The Wild Feathers have been provided with guitar picks containing an NFC tag... More
“Host card emulation is good for the NFC ecosystem as a whole, but remains immature, unstandardised and, relative to secure element based deployments, vulnerable to malicious attack,” says SIM card manufacturer association SIMalliance, which has published an HCE discussion paper called Secure Element Deployment & Host Card Emulation... More
Transport for London (TfL) is testing payments via NFC phones for use on the tube and the overground rail network and is piloting contactless card payments with some 5,000 volunteers... More
A total of 4.2bn SIMs were shipped in 2013 by members of the SIMalliance, an organisation that represents suppliers responsible for 86% of the global SIM market, 5% down on 2012... More
Australia’s Heritage Bank has unveiled prototypes of a suit that comes with an embedded NFC chip and antenna to allow its wearer to make NFC payments at contactless POS terminals by simply swiping their sleeve... More