HEADLINE NEWS

Samsung to Embed Secure Element in Galaxy S III, Other NFC Phones

May 14 2012 (All day)

Samsung Electronics and NXP Semiconductors have confirmed that Samsung’s next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, will sport an embedded secure chip, in addition to supporting applications on SIM cards.

American Express Onboard for Isis Two-City Launch

American Express and Isis have announced that AmEx plans to participate in the two large NFC pilots Isis plans to launch this summer in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas.

HTC Steps Up NFC Phone Presence with Three High-End Handsets

May 10 2012 (All day)

New Orleans – Phone maker HTC is displaying three high-end NFC phones at the International CTIA Wireless show in New Orleans, including its Droid Incredible 4G LTE, destined for U.S.

MasterCard Unveils Wallet Offer; Expands PayPass Name to Online Transactions

NEW ORLEANS – MasterCard today announced its answer to Visa’s digital wallet and other wallets planned by competitors, introducing its PayPass Wallet Services.

MasterCard Announces NFC Device Certifications; New NFC Mark

May 9 2012 (All day)

MasterCard has announced certifications for 17 NFC phones as well as its own mark that handset makers could display on device packaging, advertisements or even on the devices themselves, showing the phone is able to do contactless payments with MasterCard PayPass.

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S III, Supporting NFC Payments and Enhanced P2P

May 4 2012 (All day)

Samsung Electronics has introduced its much-anticipated Galaxy S III, which, as expected, will support NFC for mobile payment, along with an enhanced version of Google’s Android Beam peer-to-peer pairing-and-sharing feature.

Barnes & Noble First E-Reader Seller to Disclose Plans for NFC Support

In a first for an e-reader seller, the CEO of bookstore chain Barnes & Noble said the company plans to include NFC chips in its Nook e-readers, which he said could make the connection between the devices and the company’s physical stores.

Airline to Introduce NFC App Following Successful Sticker Launch

May 3 2012 (All day)

Scandinavian Airlines plans to introduce an NFC application for frequent flyers as early as this summer, enabling those with Android NFC phones to tap for a faster flow through check-in, security screening and boarding.

Report: Google and PayPal Challenge UK Joint Venture Plans

Google and PayPal have reportedly expressed concerns to European antitrust regulators, saying they fear that if major UK mobile operators are allowed to form their proposed NFC mobile-commerce joint venture, they would have too much power to control secure elements in NFC phones, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

Telefónica UK Launches O2 Wallet; Promises NFC Later in 2012

Telefónica UK, known as O2, launched its long anticipated O2 Wallet today, offering text-based money transfers and online product searches and purchasing, but no NFC yet.

Wentker Departs Visa; Bains Leaves GSM Association

Dave Wentker, considered the No. 2 man in Visa Inc.’s mobile-payment unit and a former vice chairman of the NFC Forum, has left the payment network after more than 15 years, NFC Times has learned.

Oberthur Gets Telco Group TSM Contract but Loses Key French Bank

France-based Oberthur Technologies has won a key contract to serve as trusted service manager for France Telecom-Orange group, but lost a TSM contract with big French bank BNP Paribas, NFC Times has learned.

Survey Says Most Consumers Not Waiting for Mobile Wallets

A survey conducted for consumer electronics shopping and review site Retrevo showed that only a little more than one in five respondents said they wanted NFC and a mobile wallet on their next mobile phone, while 53% said they were not interested and 26% didn't know what NFC or a mobile wallet was.

The results of the unscientific survey, which polled more than 1,000 people in June, were released this week. A Retrevo spokeswoman told NFC Times that the company hires a third-party survey firm to find people for its studies, which the firm conducts online. 

The survey results indicate security concerns might be one thing standing in the way of consumers’ embrace of NFC, though oddly enough, the results found respondents trusted Google and Apple more than they did Visa or MasterCard to provide a wallet. Mobile operators came in even lower on the trust question.

According to Silicon Valley-based Retrevo, the survey found that 36% of all phone owners “trusted” Google to provide a mobile wallet, 33% said they had most faith in Apple to offer one, but only 32% said they would trust a wallet from Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Even fewer, 26%, gave the nod to AT&T, Verizon or their cell phone carrier.

A breakdown of the data, however, showed that iPhone users were much more likely to trust Apple to provide the wallet, 61%, while 46% of Android phone users would trust Google to offer a wallet on their phones.

IPhone owners also would be more willing to adopt NFC and mobile wallets in their next phone, with 40% saying they were waiting for mobile-wallet capability in the future, compared with 24% of Android phone owners.

Google last month unveiled its NFC wallet, designed to run on the search giant’s Android operating system. Apple is not expected to offer a mobile wallet or even an NFC phone this year.

Among respondents with all types of phones, 28% of 18-to-35 year olds said they would be interested in NFC, the highest among any age group. Others in the group said they were unsure or were not interested. But fully three quarters of respondents over 50 said they were not interested in NFC, according to Retrevo. More male respondents, 27%, said they wanted to use NFC on their phones to make purchases than women, at 15%.