Latest News

Google Restores Prepaid Card Issuance to Wallet after Plugging Security Hole

Google Wallet chief Osama Bedier late Tuesday said the Web giant had restored the ability to issue new prepaid cards to the wallet after implementing a fix.

Nokia’s Head of NFC Leaves; Latest Departure from Handset Maker's NFC Team

The head of NFC at Nokia, Jeremy Belostock, has left the handset maker, the latest departure from Nokia’s NFC staff

Texas Instruments Announces First Combo Wireless Chips Supporting NFC

U.S.-based chip giant Texas Instruments today announced the industry’s first combo wireless chips incorporating NFC, with its WiLink 8.0 series, which are expected to be incorporated in smartphones and other mobile devices, such as tablets, ultrathin laptops and eBooks.

Taiwanese Banks Plan to Launch M-Payment on iPhone and SWP microSD Cards

Three Taiwanese banks are seeking to enable their customers to tap their mobile phones to make purchases with MasterCard PayPass using microSD cards in a full Android NFC phone from HTC, as well as an iPhone attachment with an embedded chip, as part of separate NFC mobile-payment projects.

G&D Announces TSM Contract with Australia’s Commonwealth Bank

Germany-based Giesecke & Devrient has announced it has won a contract to serve as trusted service manager for Australia’s Commonwealth Bank for the bank’s contactless-mobile payment rollout.

Google Suspends Provisioning of Prepaid Cards in Wallet as It Fixes Security Hole

Feb 15 2012

Google has temporarily suspended provisioning of prepaid cards in its Google Wallet, as it implements a fix to prevent a simple hack that would allow unauthorized users to spend prepaid balances on lost or stolen wallet phones.

NXP Discloses Design Wins for More than 130 NFC Handsets and Tablets

NXP Semiconductors CEO Rick Clemmer said the chip maker has notched design wins for more than 130 handsets and tablets, giving it an “Intel-like” market share for the number of devices being designed with NFC chips.

Inside Relaunches IPO; Seeks to Branch Out Beyond BlackBerrys

France-based NFC chip supplier Inside Secure has relaunched its initial public offering, planning to raise up the €79 million (US$103.4 million), as it seeks to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded NFC market.

Inside Secure to Relaunch IPO; Announces 20 Million NFC Chip Shipments and New Customer

Inside Secure today announced it has shipped 20 million NFC chips the past 12 months and said its chips will be used by a leading phone maker on a major mobile platform–as it seeks to build interest in its renewed IPO.

Reports Offer More Confirmation of Microsoft’s Plans for Support of NFC Wallet

Reports are citing comments from Microsoft vice president and Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore as emphasizing an NFC-based “wallet experience” for the software giant’s planned Windows Phone 8 platform.

Taiwan Chip Company Supplies NFC Technology to Low-Cost Phone Maker

Taiwan-based chip maker MStar Semiconductor announced today it is supplying NFC technology to Russia-based phone maker Fly for one or more handsets for the European market to be released as early as next month.

Austrian Bank Announces Plans to Launch Mobile-Payment Service with microSDs and iPhone

Feb 5 2012

Raiffeisen Bank International, one of Austria’s largest banks, is planning to launch contactless-mobile payment with microSD cards and an iPhone attachment.

Nintendo to Support Payments and Other NFC Applications in Planned Game Console

Struggling video game maker Nintendo will incorporate NFC in its planned Wii U home video game console, including support for payments, the company’s president Satoru Iwata said today.

Samsung Confirms NFC Chip in Galaxy Note, though NFC Version Already Shipping in Korea

May 16 2012

Samsung Electronics has confirmed it has an NFC version of its Galaxy Note, though that comes as no surprise to operators in South Korea, which have been selling the tablet-smartphone hybrid with NFC inside for about two months.

Airline Industry Tech Provider Sees Major Role for NFC to Speed Check-in and Boarding

With the help of NFC technology, airline passengers will routinely tap their mobile phones to pass through security checkpoints and boarding gates by 2018, predicts major airline industry IT and communications services provider SITA.

Turkcell Launches ZTE Android NFC Phone as it Continues Mobile-Wallet Rollout

Turkey’s largest operator, Turkcell, has introduced a second branded Android NFC phone model for its mobile wallet and has launched a new toll-collection application for the model.

Inside Secure Releases New Android NFC Stack; Accuses NXP of Monopolizing Market

NFC chip supplier Inside Secure has released a new version of its NFC software stack, as it seeks to break rival NXP Semiconductors’ dominance of the market for NFC chips in Android phones.

Microsoft Requires ‘Visual Mark’ for Windows 8 Devices Supporting NFC

Microsoft is requiring device makers to include a “visual mark” for tablets and PCs supporting NFC and running the software giant’s forthcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Japan’s KDDI Announces Plans for Small NFC Launch with Galaxy S II

Jan 17 2012

Japan’s second largest mobile operator, KDDI, said it would launch Japan’s first mobile NFC service late this month with the Samsung Galaxy S II–though the service will start out small because of the lack of phones that support both standard NFC and Japan's proprietary FeliCa technology, as well as Japan's nearly nonexistent infrastructure of standard contactless readers.

Spanish Bank Plans To Turn Barcelona into Contactless-Payment City

Large Spanish retail bank La Caixa will begin rolling out 1 million contactless cards along with more than 15,000 point-of-sale terminals and 500 contactless ATMs in Barcelona this month.

GlobalPlatform and SIMalliance Seek to Build ‘De Facto Standard’ for Accessing Secure Elements

Jan 12 2012

The SIMalliance trade group and GlobalPlatform standards organization say they are working on what they predict will become a “de-facto standard” for the way apps on NFC phones communicate with secure elements.

Sony Unveils Pair of Android NFC Phones and ‘SmartTags’

Sony Ericsson has announced two NFC-enabled Android smartphones and NFC tags for its Xperia series, touting NFC as enabling consumers to share content, as well as “an increasing number of NFC applications.”

Visa Announces Certification of Six NFC Phone Models for SIM-based payWave

Jan 11 2012

Visa has announced its first certifications of NFC phones, approving six models to run its contactless application, payWave, on SIM cards.

Intel, HP Signal Plans for Supporting NFC on Ultrabooks

Jan 11 2012

U.S.-based Intel, as expected, is planning to incorporate NFC technology into chip designs for future ultrabook computers, the vice president and general manager of the chip maker’s PC group said Monday.

Sprint Announces Two New NFC Phones Supporting Google Wallet

U.S. mobile carrier Sprint has announced two more phones supporting the Google Wallet, including Google’s new Android smartphone, the Galaxy Nexus.

HEADLINE NEWS

Australian Transit Agency to Launch Mobility-as-a-Service Trial as It Pursues Long-Term MaaS Strategy

Plans by Transport for New South Wales, Australia’s largest transit agency, to launch a trial enabling users to plan, book and pay for multimodal rides is the next step toward the agency’s long-ter

Updated: U.S. Transit Agency Seeks to Reduce–Though Not Eliminate–Cash Acceptance with New Fare-Collection System

Updated: The Spokane Transit Authority in Washington state confirmed that its new fare-collection system will include contactless open-loop payments–with a beta test planned for next October, a spokesman told NFC Times' sister publication Mobility Payments.

UK Government Seeks to Bring London-Style Contactless Fare Payments System to Other Regions

The UK government’s plan to equip 700 rail stations over the next three years to accept contactless open-loop payments is a major initiative, as it seeks to replicate the success of London’s contactless pay-as-you go fare payments system elsewhere in the country–a goal that has proved elusive in the past.

More Cities in Finland Expected to Move to Open-Loop Fare Payments

A fourth city in Finland is beginning to roll out contactless open-loop payments, with “more in the pipeline,” according to one supplier on the project, making the Nordic country one of the latest hotspots for the technology.

Moscow Metro Expands Test of ‘Virtual Troika’ in Pays Wallets, as It Continues to Develop Digital-Payments Services

Moscow Metro is recruiting more users to test its “Virtual Troika” card in two NFC wallets, those supporting Google Pay and Samsung Pay, as one of the world’s largest subway operators continues to seek more ways for its customers to pay for rides.

Ohio Transit Agency Expects Significant Revenue Loss as it Builds Equity with Fare Capping

The Central Ohio Transit Authority, or COTA, officially launched its new digital-payments service Monday, including a fare-capping feature that the agency estimates will cost it $1.8 million per year in lost fare revenue, the agency confirmed to Mobility Payments.

Special Report: Interest Grows in ‘White-Label EMV’ for Closed-Loop Transit Cards

As more transit agencies introduce open-loop fare payments, interest is starting to grow in use of white-label EMV cards that agencies can issue in place of proprietary closed-loop cards for riders who don’t have bank cards or don’t want to use them to pay fares.

Swedish Transit Agency Launches Express Mode Feature for Apple Pay, though Most Ticketing Still with Barcode-Based App

Skånetrafiken, the transit agency serving one of Sweden’s largest counties, announced today it has expanded its contactless open-loop payments service to include the Express Mode feature for Apple Pay.

Major Bus Operators in Hong Kong Now Accepting Open-Loop Payments–Adding More Competition for Octopus

Two more bus operators in Hong Kong on Saturday launched acceptance of open-loop contactless fare payments, with both also accepting QR code-based mobile ticketing–as the near ubiquitous closed-loop Octopus card continues to see more competition.

Moscow Metro Launches Full Rollout of ‘Face Pay;’ Largest Biometric Payments Service of Its Kind

Touting it as the largest rollout of biometric payments in the world, Moscow Metro launched its high-profile “Face Pay” service Friday, as expected, and predicted that 10% to 15% would regularly us

Indonesian Capital Seeks to Expand to Multimodal Fare Collection and MaaS

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, whose metropolitan area is home to more than 30 million people, is notorious for its stifling traffic congestion. In response, the government metro and light-rail networks and now it is funding an expansion of the fare-collection system to enable more multimodal payments and to build a mobility-as-a-service platform.

Exclusive: NFC Wallets Grow as Share of Contactless Fare Payments and Not Only Because of Covid

Transit agencies that have rolled out open-loop contactless payments are seeing growing use of NFC wallets to pay fares, as Covid-wary passengers see convenience in tapping their phones or wearables to pay.