STM, the Societè de Transport de Montreal, has appointed Oberthur Technologies to supply contactless cards for use throughout the Montreal region’s public transport network, including buses, the subway and commuter trains throughout the Greater Montreal area and the city of Quebec... More
Travel and ticketing
China Mobile to launch mobile contactless payments in October — using an RF SIM solution
The telecoms giant has opted for an RF SIM-based solution (using SIM cards embedded with a second, contactless chipset) for its new mobile payments service, not NFC, according to a report in Interfax-China (subscription required)... More
The NFC Report: Is China heading towards the adoption of NFC?
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator with 470 million subscribers, and China Unionpay, the national bank card association, were amongst the first in the world to field test NFC back in 2006. Now, both companies are taking a second look at mobile contactless payments and mobile operator China Unicom is getting in on the action too… More
NTT Docomo reports 10 million mobile credit card customers
There are now over ten million subscribers to NTT Docomo’s Osaifu-Keitai based mobile credit card payment service DCMX and, overall, a total of 30 million Docomo subscribers are now equipped with Osaifu-Keitai handsets. More
National ticketing project could use NFC and contactless to save £2bn a year, says UK’s Dept for Transport
A consultation paper published by the UK’s Department for Transport sets out plans for a national, integrated ticketing system that could save £2bn a year. More
Telefónica O2 joins Deutsche Bahn’s NFC ticketing project
The mobile operator has joined Vodafone and T-Mobile in the German rail company’s Touch&Travel NFC ticketing project, as it heads towards a major expansion of the pilot testing area and a future nationwide commercial launch. More
Paris transport operators to launch NFC ticketing from the end of 2010
From the end of next year passengers on the Paris Metro, local trains and the region’s buses will begin to be able to buy their tickets and get them validated using an NFC phone. More
Nice to become France’s NFC City
The city council has won funding from the French government for a ‘pre-commercial’ NFC test in partnership with three mobile operators plus transport operator Veolia and the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis. More
First commercial NFC service launched in Malaysia
The new Maxis FastTap service lets customers use Nokia NFC phones to make Visa PayWave contactless transactions and pay for tolls, transit, parking and theme park charges. More
Air France tests NFC boarding passes at Nice airport
Frequent flyers can use NFC phones or stickers to get an electronic boarding pass and collect loyalty points. More
Telecom Italia and ATM to launch NFC ticketing service in Milan
Trials will take place during the second half of 2009 with a commercial launch due in early 2010. More
Swiss operators form working group to promote NFC payments
Orange, Sunrise and Swisscom have formed a working group, open to all, with the aim of developing a standardised, national NFC platform from early 2010. 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
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
Singapore to get national trusted third party for NFC
Singapore’s banks, telecoms networks and transit operators have given the go ahead for the creation of a national trusted third party designed to ensure full interoperability between the NFC services of all mobile operators and all service providers. More
Telefónica O2 to launch multi-function NFC trial in Czech Republic
The Czech town of Pilsen is to be the site of the world’s first trial of a multi-function NFC system incorporating both retail payments and Mifare transit ticketing applications. More
Austrian mobile and rail operators develop VDV-based NFC ticketing
Mobilkom Austria and ÖBB, the federal railways group, are to field test an NFC system based on Germany’s VDV contactless ticketing standard. More
UK Department for Transport completes NFC bus ticketing trial
A small-scale test has taken place in the north-west of England which utilised mobile phones to buy bus tickets using NFC and the UK’s ITSO ticketing standard. More
Mobile and transit operators launch NFC payments system in Chongqing
China Unicom and Yucheng Transportation Card Co have jointly introduced an NFC version of Chongqing city’s Yucheng Tong card that can be used to make payments on public transport, in cinemas and at shops and restaurants. More
London Underground signals move to NFC
Transport for London’s new ticketing contract will drive the switch to next generation ticketing, London Underground’s managing director has confirmed. More