HEADLINE NEWS

Taxis in Major U.S. Cities to Get NFC-Enabled Video Ads

Riders in 5,000 taxicabs in the U.S. would be able to tap on NFC tags on video advertising screens to download apps, brand information, coupons, maps, music and videos, according to technology suppliers that have equipped the taxis for potential advertising campaigns.

Analyst: Banks Have More to Fear from Cloud-Based Technologies Than NFC

Banks have much more to fear from cloud-based mobile payment than from NFC, even if mobile operators control the secure elements that hold the banks’ payment applications.

GSMA Proposes Global Standard for NFC-Enabled Loyalty and Couponing–Using SIM Cards

May 10 2013 (All day)

The GSMA mobile operator trade group is proposing a global standard for how point-of-sale terminals talk to NFC-enabled mobile wallets to enable consumers to redeem coupons and rewards.

Taiwanese Bank Gets Approval for NFC-Enabled Credit Cards; Okay for Other Banks Expected

Taiwanese banking regulators, as expected, have approved the first bank to issue mobile credit cards that could be downloaded over the air to SIM cards.

UK Retailer Marks & Spencer Sees Growing Use of Contactless

Marks & Spencer, one of the UK’s largest retailers, announced today it had rolled out contactless payment to 644 of its UK stores and said 14% of its card transactions under £20 (US$30.97) are contactless.

Identive Reports Growing NFC Business; Blames Flat Sales, Losses, on U.S. Budget Cuts

U.S.-based Identive Group reported growing NFC and smart card reader business, but fell back into the red during for the first quarter, a loss it largely blamed on U.S. federal government budget cuts.

German Bank and Telco Hold Small NFC Trial; Larger Launches Planned in Country This Year

As Germany gears up for NFC, German bank Dortmunder Volksbank along with Telefónica (O2) Germany have launched a small pilot putting a credit application onto SIM cards in Western Germany.

Cashless Technology Company Announces Rollout of Isis SmartTap on Vending Machines

Vending technology company USA Technologies plans to integrate the SmartTap mobile-commerce software into all of the company’s nearly 100,000 NFC-enabled terminals on vending machines nationwide.

Vendor Group: NFC Secure Element Market to Grow by Two-Thirds This Year

Smart card vendor association Eurosmart has substantially increased its estimate for NFC secure element shipments for 2012–by 50% to 150 million units–and forecasts that secure element shipments will grow by another 67% in 2013 to 250 million units.

Gemalto Reveals Some Details of MCX Deal; Vendor Will Earn Fees for Transactions

France-based smart card and security vendor Gemalto will operate the mobile-payment platform for U.S. merchant group MCX, earning a fee for every transaction, in addition to what appears to be a hosting fee it says is worth tens of millions.

Inside Reports NFC Revenue Down Sharply in First Quarter; Some Recovery Expected in Q2

France-based chip supplier Inside Secure today reported a sharp decline in its revenue in the first quarter from its NFC chips, blaming the situation on excess inventories of NFC chips on hand by its main customer BlackBerry.

Australian Supermarket Chain Sees Fast Take-Up of Contactless Payment

More than half of credit card transactions at Australian supermarket chain Coles are contactless, and the merchant hit the milestone just over six months after rolling out contactless terminals across its more than 700 supermarkets.

Norwegian Bank and Telco Launch New NFC Trial

Norway’s largest bank, DnB NOR, and its biggest mobile operator, Telenor, have launched a new NFC trial in the capital Oslo, putting a MasterCard PayPass application on SIM cards from the telco.

The trial is believed to be a follow up to a pilot the parties launched in 2009, in which vendors modified a Nokia 6131 NFC phone model to support applications on SIM cards. The trial, however, ran into some problems with communication between the phone and point-of-sale terminals for the participating employees. The bank and telco, along with MasterCard, had planned a second phase in 2010, but cancelled it after Nokia killed its planned standardized SIM-based NFC phone, the 6216.

The new trial will test a service dubbed “Tap2Pay,” involving about 250 consumers. They will use the Samsung S5230 NFC phone, which supports the standard for SIM-based NFC applications, the single-wire protocol. The consumers will be able to tap to pay at a limited number of merchants equipped for the trial in the Majorstua district of Oslo, including Kaffebrenneriet coffee bars, outlets of the Vita cosmetics chain and Deli de Luca Group restaurants.

Germany-based Giesecke & Devrient, which announced the trial today, is supplying the NFC-enabled SIM cards and is serving as trusted service manager–tying into MasterCard’s over-the-air provisioning service, MOTAPS.

Telenor has about 3 million subscribers in Norway. The group’s branch in neighboring Denmark last week announced a joint venture with other major telcos in the country to roll out NFC-based wallets next year or in 2013.

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