HEADLINE NEWS
New Zealand: Transit Fare-Collection Operator and Telco Launch NFC Service
Transit fare-collection operator Snapper has put its application onto SIM cards issued by mobile operator 2degrees, enabling riders to tap NFC phones to pay bus and taxi fares and to make small retail purchases, mainly in the capital city, Wellington. Users also can top up their Snapper value on the phone. Only one NFC phone, the Android-based LG Optimus Net, was available at launch supporting the Touch2Pay service, but others are to follow, including the Samsung Galaxy S III, say organizers.
It’s one of the first commercial launches of NFC fare-collection anywhere, helped by the fact that fare-collection operator Snapper uses a standard Java-based application for its 200,000-plus contactless card-carrying customers. While launch partner 2degrees is the only mobile operator supporting the service so far, Snapper hopes to expand it to New Zealand’s other major mobile operators, Telecom and Vodafone. All told, there are more than 1,000 buses, 3,000 taxis, and over 500 retail locations accepting Snapper in Wellington and New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland. The country’s three telcos and its bank-owned payments processor have announced plans to form a joint venture to launch a centralized trusted service manager for the rollout of NFC services.
* 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.
N/A: Not available or not applicable.
Last update: Aug. 2012
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedInSyndicate
