HEADLINE NEWS

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

Published: May 16 2013

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.

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

Published: May 13 2013

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.

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

Published: May 9 2013
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.

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

Published: May 9 2013

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.

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UK Retailer Marks & Spencer Sees Growing Use of Contactless

Published: May 7 2013

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.

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

Published: May 3 2013

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.

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

Published: May 2 2013

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.

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Cashless Technology Company Announces Rollout of Isis SmartTap on Vending Machines

Published: May 1 2013

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.

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

Published: Apr 29 2013

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.

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

Published: Apr 25 2013

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.

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

Published: Apr 25 2013

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.

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Australian Supermarket Chain Sees Fast Take-Up of Contactless Payment

Published: Apr 25 2013

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.

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Italy: Telecom Italia Launches Large NFC Trial; Likely a Prelude to Rollout

Published: Oct 24 2012
Milan, Italy
Scope: 
Trial
Launch: 
Oct 2012
Main Application: 
Payment, transit ticketing
Mobile Operator: 
Telecom Italia
Service Provider (application): 
Intesa Sanpaolo (credit application)
Service Provider (application): 
Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (transit ticketing)
Merchants: 
1,000
Users: 
1,000
NFC Handsets: 
Samsung Galaxy mini 2 (likely)
TSM*: 
N/A
Secure Element: 
SIM
Other Vendors: 
Kinetic (outdoor multimedia), Logital (integration), NXP Semiconductors (NFC phone chip).

The trial enables 1,000 users to make retail payments, pay for bus, tram, metro and train tickets, as well as taxi fares, and to redeem coupons and discount vouchers. The trial also enables users to tap NFC tags for information discovery at museums and other cultural points of interest in the city.

NFC Times Take: 

The telco, which stores the secure applications on SIM cards, timed the announcement of the trial to coincide with the GSM Association's NFC & Mobile Money Summit, held in October in Milan. Franco Bernabè, Telecom Italia’s chairman and CEO and current chairman of the GSMA, spoke at the event. The GSMA is pushing a SIM-centric approach to NFC, of which Telecom Italia is happy to oblige. The trial is seen as a prelude to an NFC commercial launch by the telco.

* Trusted Service Manager: Defined loosely to include companies or other organizations securely distributing, provisioning and managing applications, generally over the air, on secure elements in NFC mobile phones; or licensing their platforms for this purpose.
 
Last update: Oct. 2012

N/A: Not available or not applicable.