Latest News

Hungary Launches NFC Group to Coordinate Rollouts

Jul 27 2011

Hungary is the latest country in which mobile operators and other players plan to coordinate their rollouts of NFC services.

Turkcell to Expand NFC Rollout with More Branded Phones, Applications

Turkey’s largest mobile operator, Turkcell, plans to introduce more of its own branded NFC phones and will expand the services available in its mobile wallet beyond payment, the telco told NFC Times.

Four Major U.S. Payment Networks to Support Isis

Jul 20 2011

The four major U.S. payment networks will work with mobile carrier joint venture Isis as it rolls out NFC-based mobile commerce in the United States, it was announced today.

LG Announces First Smartphone with NFC Option

LG Electronics has announced its first NFC-enabled smartphone with the Optimus Net, which supports Google’s Android mobile operating system.

Orange Gears Up for NFC in Europe–Plans to Hire Groupwide TSM

France Telecom-Orange Group is seeking to hire a trusted service manager for its mobile group, focusing first on Orange branch operators in Poland, Spain and Romania, NFC Times has learned.

Capital One: Ready to Make a Move into Mobile Payment?

Though one of the largest card issuers in the United States, Capital One has for the most part been quiet when it comes to contactless payment and NFC.

Reality Show Tag Trial Seeks to Demo Smart Posters as Ad Medium

A small group of advertising agency staffers will be able to tap their NFC phones on smart posters in New York and Los Angeles starting next week to view videos clips of a reality TV show and link to the show’s Facebook page, according to UK-based NFC application provider Proxama.

Nokia to Launch NFC Symbian Update While Looking Toward Windows Phone

Nokia plans to release its update to the Symbian operating system, called Anna, in July or August to turn on the NFC features of its C7 smartphone worldwide. The move signals the start of a new NFC push by the Finland-based handset maker.

Verizon Chief of New Technology: Payment Only Part of NFC's Promise

The head of new technology development for Verizon Wireless described NFC technology as a “key chain,” on which payment applications will only represent a couple of the keys.

PayPal to Introduce NFC P2P Payment Service

PayPal today unveiled its first NFC-based service, demonstrating peer-to-peer payments facilitated by users tapping their Google Nexus S NFC phones together.

ANZ Tries to Counter Published Report of ‘Failed’ MicroSD Trial

ANZ bank in Australia says it has nothing against the idea of using microSD cards for mobile payment.

Apple Wins Patent for NFC Antenna in Computer Display

While doubts continue to grow that the next iPhone will support NFC, Apple has been granted a patent for incorporating an NFC antenna into the display of its iMac desktop computers and potentially other devices.

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.

Citi Exec: Banks Must Not Get Left Behind in Coming Era of M-Commerce

Citigroup’s Dickson Chu, who is leading Citi’s participation in the Google Wallet, says the bank understands its role in the coming era of mobile commerce.

Dutch Telco: NFC JV to Help Defend Against New Players

Dutch operators and banks plan to launch NFC services in the second or third quarter of 2012, probably starting in a small city followed by a nationwide launch weeks later, Peter Van Leeuwen, strategy and business development manager for mobile operator KPN, reportedly said.

Vivotech Seeks Break Out with Help from New Funding Round

While U.S.-based Vivotech has not been profitable during its first 10 years, investors in its latest funding round apparently believe the vendor is well-positioned to take advantage of the Google-style push for NFC-based mobile commerce.

Visa and Bank Launching MicroSD Card Trial in French NFC Cities

Jun 30 2011

Visa Europe and Groupe BPCE, one of France’s largest banks, are launching a trial of mobile payment with the iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy S and two BlackBerry Bold models, using contactless mic

Deutsche Telekom Chooses G&D for Development of NFC-enabled SIMs

Germany-based Giesecke & Devrient has announced it has won a contract from Deutsche Telekom to develop NFC-enabled SIM cards for the telco group's NFC wallet rollouts.

Danish Telcos Form Joint Venture to Keep Control of NFC Revenue

Denmark’s four mobile operators are the latest telcos to announce an NFC joint venture, seeking to roll out mobile wallets on their own terms.

Google Launches Places Test with Japanese Wallet Phones in Tokyo

Google has turned its eyes toward Japan for NFC, launching a trial of its Google Places information and ratings service geared to Japan’s NFC-like contactless-mobile wallet phones.

Google’s Schmidt Predicts Contactless Terminal Rollout

Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt reportedly predicted Wednesday that one third of U.S. point-of-sale terminals would accept contactless payment within a year, a penetration rate that he said would be “sufficient” for widespread adoption of NFC-based mobile commerce.

Inside Secure CEO: Greek Financial Crisis Delayed IPO

Jun 28 2011

Inside Secure CEO Rémy de Tonnac said the chip supplier’s decision to postpone its planned initial public offering was based solely on the financial crisis in Greece and the uncertainty it is creating on world markets.

Isis Confirms Second NFC Pilot City

Jun 22 2011

Isis chief executive Michael Abbott has confirmed that the second pilot city for the U.S. mobile carrier joint venture will be Austin, Texas.

UK Post Office Looking to Go Contactless in 2012

Jun 24 2011

The Post Office Ltd. in the United Kingdom is planning to roll out new point-of-sale terminals accepting contactless payment cards at its nearly 12,000 branches starting next year, NFC Times has learned.

Nokia Introduces Its Second NFC-enabled Smartphone

Nokia has introduced its second NFC-enabled smartphone, the N9, which enables users to share photos, videos and music by tapping devices together.

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.