Apple has applied for a patent on an antenna design that allows NFC signals to be transmitted from both the top and bottom of a mobile phone — front and rear — reducing the need for a user to orientate their device in a particular way when conducting an NFC transaction. More
Prepaid voucher provider Groupon has launched an iPad-based point-of-sale terminal that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to let merchants “instantly recognize their Groupon customers as they enter their business, seamlessly redeem Groupons and save time and money.”... More
Canada-based coffee chain Tim Hortons has expanded its mobile payments service, first launched using host card emulation (HCE) technology in December 2013, with the introduction of barcode-based mobile payments across its outlets in the USA and Canada... More
McDonald’s Austria is rolling out a new mobile ordering and payments service that lets users place their orders on their mobile device and pay using PayPal, a credit card or a stored value Paybox account... More
“We see growing evidence Apple will adopt NFC as a core part of its mobile payments strategy,” a new report from investment firm Morgan Stanley says — and evidence suggests that NXP has already won the contract to supply NFC controller chips for the iPhone 6... More
McDonald’s is set to roll out a new campaign for the 2014 Fifa World Cup using an augmented reality app to turn packaging and tables into virtual football games... More
There will be more than 1.5billion mobile wallets in use around the world by 2018, according to a new forecast from Juniper Research, representing one in five handsets and up from one in 10 at the end of 2013... More
Identify theft protection provider LifeLock has withdrawn LifeLock Wallet, a service built on Lemon Wallet which it acquired for US$50m in December 2013... More
“Apple is likely to incorporate a near field communication (NFC) payment function in the next generation iPhone and has reached an agreement with China UnionPay on a mobile payment service,” investment newswire Brightwire reports, citing “a source close to the matter”... More
Apple is to equip US store staff with a new version of its EasyPay mPOS solution that replaces the existing iPod devices with an iPhone 5S, encased in a Verifone shell, that offers support for both EMV “chip and pin” cards and contactless payments, Forbes reports... More
The arrival of host card emulation (HCE) has led to a re-think of online payments giant PayPal’s famously anti-NFC point of view, company president David Marcus has revealed... More
Apple will enter the wearable devices market “this fall” with an iWatch that includes a secure element, NFC communications capabilities and support for biometrics, according to a new research note by Taiwan-based KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo... More
The number of contactless transactions made using a mobile phone will increase from 3bn this year to 10bn in 2018, according to Juniper Research, due to two key drivers: host card emulation (HCE) and the anticipated arrival of an Apple iWallet... More
iPhone users will be able to participate in the NFC Experience at Mobile World Congress for the first time this year, courtesy of free NFC iPhone cases being made available by event sponsor Incipio that will provide support for NFC entry badges as well as a range of promotional offers and information services... More
Funding is being raised on Kickstarter to commercialize an ultra-slim wall plaque that enables visitors to connect to a host’s WiFi network without having to ask for and enter a password, by just tapping their phone on entry to a home or commercial location... More
US carrier Verizon has introduced a range of NFC cases for iPhone users, enabling Apple phone owners to make Isis NFC payments... More
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published a draft specification for an NFC API that will provide web developers with a standard way to access the NFC functionality on an NFC-enabled device... More
iPhone owners in the US can now make Isis payments following AT&T’s introduction of a range of phone cases that add NFC functionality to the devices... More
A newly published Apple patent application uses a secure element in a mobile phone to store cardholder data, NFC to initiate a transaction and Bluetooth or WiFi to complete the processing of a transaction and return coupons and other information to the customer’s device... More
Smartphones accounted for four out of five NFC devices shipped in 2013 but that market share will drop to under 60% in 2017 as NFC becomes widely adopted in computing products, peripherals, speakers, digital cameras, printers, domestic appliances and automotive products, ABI Research reports... More