What does the news that Isis has signed up all four US payments networks — Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express — for its NFC payments service mean for the future of the Google Wallet service?... More
Mastercard
Isis signs up Visa, MasterCard, Discover and Amex for NFC mobile payments
“Relationships with all four payment networks means that with Isis-enabled phones and payment terminals in place, merchants and consumers will have ubiquity and freedom of choice when it comes to payment network acceptance,” says the company. More
Etisalat Zantel launches NFC payments in Tanzania
“Operators in African countries such as Tanzania benefit from being able to leapfrog legacy systems and can directly adopt NFC for their customers,” says the mobile network operator. More
Vodafone tests NFC in New Zealand
Vodafone is testing NFC technology in New Zealand, the mobile network operator’s local chief executive Russell Stanners has told The New Zealand Herald... More
UniCredit launches mobile contactless payments service in Slovakia
The Slovak bank is providing customers with MasterCard-branded contactless stickers that can be attached to the back of their mobile phones and used to make payments at more than 3,000 contactless card acceptance points currently in place in Slovakia. More
Telenor and DnB Nor begin NFC trial in Oslo
The Norwegian bank and mobile network operator have contracted Giesecke & Devrient to provide them with a turnkey NFC solution for a mobile payments trial that will involve a dozen merchant locations in Oslo. More
SK Telecom to open NFC Zone in Seoul
Korean mobile network operator SK Telecom is to open an ‘NFC Zone’ in Seoul, the company’s head of global partnerships has told delegates attending the GSMA’s Mobile Money Summit in Singapore... More
ANZ Bank: We like NFC, but not via microSD
“At this stage, we will not be progressing with microSD as a contactless payment technology platform,” says the Australian banking giant. More
Beeline and Alfa-Bank launch Russian mobile payments brand
The Russian bank and mobile network operator have created a new payments system called RuRu that will begin with mobile and ecommerce, P2P transfers and mobile remittances. NFC services will follow “in the near future.” More
NFC Forum appoints MasterCard’s James Anderson as vice chairman
James Anderson, group head and senior vice president for mobile product development at MasterCard Worldwide, has been appointed vice chairman of NFC standards association the NFC Forum... More
Isracard to test NFC payments
Israel’s largest credit card issuer, Isracard, is to run a mobile payments trial using NFC stickers, Globes reports: ... More
US smartphone owners want Apple and Google to provide their NFC wallets
A survey of more than 1,000 US smartphone owners has found that Apple and Google top the list of the companies most trusted to provide them with a mobile wallet... More
MasterCard and ANZ launch New Zealand’s first NFC payment trial
Bank staff have been given contactless stickers or NFC-enabled microSD cards to enable mobile payments using MasterCard PayPass as the card giant puts its Australasian roadmap into operation. More
Korea drives ahead with plans for NFC leadership
Up to 300,000 NFC-enabled points of sale are set to be installed in South Korea and all smartphones must include NFC capabilities by the end of 2011, Reuters has reported... More
NFC pioneer Bling Nation suspends mobile payments service
Bling Nation, the company behind the first commercial NFC payments system in the US, has suspended service while it seeks to revamp its business model, American Banker reports... More
Korean national NFC alliance aims to create a billion dollar business opportunity
Korean mobile network operators, card issuers, consumer electronics manufacturers and government organisations have formed the Grand NFC Korea Alliance with the aim of creating a US$1bn business opportunity and more than 5,000 jobs. More
NFC news in brief • 30 May 2011
News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: Identive, NXP sign VAR deal • Huawei planning NFC phones? • Vodacom looks to NFC • NFC domain names on Ebay • US banks debut P2P payments • Samsung smashes Galaxy sales record • US theme park to offer next-gen shopping experience • Rhodes framework adds NFC support • and more… More
Google Wallet: Day one for NFC?
Google has announced Google Wallet, Google Offers and a Google Prepaid Card, in partnership with MasterCard, Citi, First Data and Sprint. More
Heads up: What to look for in Google’s NFC mobile payments announcement
The internet giant is set to announce its NFC mobile payments strategy at noon on 26 May in New York. Here are the key things to look for to work out if the company’s strategy will succeed — and what it means for the payments industry, the mobile network operators, phone manufacturers, the firm’s competitors and the future of Google’s own advertising business. More
Google VP confirms NFC mobile commerce launch tomorrow
“We’re making a big bet on it as a company,” says Stephanie Tilenius, Google’s VP of commerce and payments. “There is a lot of potential there.” More