More than 90% of the participants in a small scale Swiss trial say they will use NFC when it becomes commercially available. More
WNIP
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
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
MasterCard, Citi and Bell report on Canadian NFC payments trial
Participants recorded an average transaction amount of $20 during the small scale four month trial. More
Citibank, Visa announce NFC trial in Singapore with operator M1
Citi M1 Platinum Visa cardholders will be able to use their mobile phones to make contactless payments linked to their credit card account at any merchant equipped to handle Visa payWave contactless transactions. More
Belgacom launches PingPing, tests NFC stickers
The Belgian telecoms operator has launched a series of mobile payment initiatives under the new PingPing banner and has partnered with Accor Services, Coca-Cola and supermarket chain Delhaize to test three different applications for NFC tag payments. More
Mastercard and Blaze Mobile launch PayPass mobile stickers
The new Blaze Mobile Mastercard PayPass sticker can be attached to any phone and is seen as a bridge to offering full NFC capabilities. More
Telefónica and Sermepa launch NFC pilot in Spain
The mobile operator and the bank-owned transaction processing supplier are testing a Mobile Virtual Wallet with potential applications in payments, transport, healthcare and personal identification. More
Orange and Barclaycard partner to launch NFC in the UK
All customers are expected to be able to use their phones to pay for everyday items within three years in “the biggest revolution in payments since plastic cards were introduced over 40 years ago.” More
Convenience will drive UK adoption of mobile and contactless payments
More than 40% of British consumers say they would use their phone to make payments — and ease of use would be their main reason for doing so. More
Citi searches for a business model in Bangalore
Citigroup says it is to run an NFC trial in the Indian city of Bangalore, with the aim of developing a business case that it can present to carriers back in the US. More
Japanese financial services giant tests Mobile MasterCard in Tokyo
Orico says it has been working with Gemalto and with Japanese mobile operator KDDI on a small-scale technical test of a MasterCard PayPass-compatible NFC service. More
Visa and Kasikornbank launch NFC payments trial in Thailand
Customers can upload their Visa card account to a Nokia 6212 handset containing Visa’s payWave contactless application and then make purchases at any of 1,000 merchant locations equipped to handle contactless transactions. More
2009 will be the year of contactless payments, says Visa Europe boss
As he reported the payments company’s latest trading results in Brussels last week, Visa Europe’s chief executive confirmed innovation is key to the company’s plans for the coming year. More
Carrefour announces major move toward contactless — and NFC
The world’s second largest retailer, part of the French Ergosum consortium aiming to launch a large scale NFC project by the end of this year, will begin converting its own brand credit/loyalty cards to contactless next month… More
Mocapay introduces SMS gift and loyalty system, plans move to NFC
The US startup’s closed loop payments and marketing technology has been integrated with Verifone transaction terminals and will migrate to NFC later. 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
US drivers to pay for fuel using NFC
Sheetz convenience stores and fleet card operator Wright Express Corporation are running a multi-city trial that lets fleet card holders make fuel purchases at Sheetz locations with their mobile phones. More
ING and MasterCard launch mobile PayPass trial in Romania
Five hundred ING customers in Bucharest are to be the first in the world to have a prepaid Maestro PayPass account loaded onto their NFC phone. More
Smart stickers power new community payments system
A new payments service from Bling Nation offers local banks the chance to provide a low-cost closed-loop payments system within their local community. Smart stickers attached to customers’ mobile phones and low-cost ‘BlingTag’ readers are at the heart of the system and NFC-based services will be added once handsets become widely available. More