A survey has found that French consumers are more interested in the idea of using their fingerprint to identify themselves when making a payment than in using a mobile phone for the purpose... More
French consumers prefer fingerprints to NFC
The Market
Germans warm to NFC
German consumers are increasingly positive about the idea of making payments with contactless cards and NFC phones, a new survey conducted for Euro Kartensysteme has found... More
FTC looks into mobile payments
The US Federal Trade Commission is inviting comments from industry representatives, consumer groups, technology providers and academics ahead of a mobile payments workshop it will host in Washington, DC on 26 April. More
MC opens Singapore R&D centre
MasterCard has opened an R&D centre at its Asia regional headquarters in Singapore... More
NFC shop opens in Tokyo
The world’s first physical retail store specialising in NFC has been opened in Yaesu, Tokyo... More
200m NFC phones in 2012
There will be 200m phones with built-in NFC technology by the end of 2012, according to the new edition of Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions report... More
Brazil moves towards NFC
The first commercial NFC service could go live in Brazil by the end of this year, Mustafa Almansur, the GSMA‘s NFC programme leader for Brazil, told RCR Wireless at an NFC event organised by the carriers’ association in São Paulo last week... More
EU calls for comment on future of payments
The European Commission has published a green paper assessing the current card, internet and mobile payments landscape and is asking stakeholders to contribute their thoughts on how to ensure a modern, integrated payments environment can be implemented across Europe. More
Spanish banks prepare Barcelona and Madrid for mobile payments
La Caixa is to equip all its 17,000 retail points-of-sale in Barcelona with contactless POS terminals while BBVA and Bankia are converting 7,000 points-of-sale in central Madrid, with the aim of paving the way for NFC mobile payments. More
Broadcom unveils NFC technology for sub-$100 smartphones
The BCM21552G is a single chip that incorporates a modem and application processor as well as support for NFC and is designed for smartphones retailing at under US$100. More
Nokia CEO: I believe in NFC
Nokia has unveiled two new smartphones at the CES, but neither include NFC... More
NFC competition returns to Wima
The NFC Forum and the Wima NFC conference have issued a call for entries to “Tap Into Innovation: NFC Global Competition 2012”, a co-organised competition which has been an important means of surfacing innovative NFC applications over the years... More
Marketing to fix security worries
A survey conducted by the GSM Association’s Mobile Money Live website has found that spending money on marketing is seen by most readers as the way to address user fears about NFC security... More
20m Koreans to have NFC phones this year
Five million Koreans already have an NFC phone, says mobile network operator KT, and payments for bus, subway and taxi fares are the most popular NFC applications. More
Visa Europe: 2012 to be contactless tipping point
87% of contactless cardholders in the UK, Poland and Turkey believe contactless cards will be “instrumental in bringing mobile contactless payments to market in the near future,” according to Visa Europe‘s latest Contactless Barometer survey... More
Smartrac acquires NFC tag maker UPM RFID
UPM has sold its RFID and NFC business to leading RFID supplier Smartrac in exchange for shares in OEP Technologie, the majority shareholder in Smartrac... More
Japanese carriers form NFC consortium
NTT Docomo, KDDI and Softbank Mobile have set up the Japan Mobile NFC Consortium with the aim of working together to coordinate the switch from Japan’s existing Osaifu-Keitai non-NFC standard mobile payments system to NFC. More
GSM Association issues new NFC handset requirements
The mobile network operators’ association has published new specifications which could give carriers a major advantage over competing mobile wallet providers but, the GSMA says, the changes are due to technical rather than commercial reasons. More
Google Wallet finds its way onto the Verizon Galaxy Nexus
Just a few days after the launch of the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon, Android enthusiasts have found a number of ways to get around the US carrier’s attempt to block Google Wallet from its version of the phone and users are now successfully making NFC payments. More
Free Press files complaint with FCC over lack of Google Wallet on Verizon Galaxy Nexus
US consumer rights organisation Free Press has filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging it to investigate Verizon Wireless’ actions regarding Google Wallet... More