Latest News

Platform Providers Predict Demand for White-Label Wallets; Some Merchants See Room for Improvement

While mobile-wallet platform providers see demand for white-label wallets, some merchants say they see room for improvement in the current offerings.

Possible Fragmentation an Issue as Dutch Banks and Telcos Prepare for NFC Post ‘Sixpack’

NFC Times Exclusive: Whereas three years ago, major banks and telcos in the Netherlands looked like they would move forward together on NFC mobile payments, with plans to form a first-of-its kind joint venture, the situation today promises to be much different.

Inside Modifies Corporate Structure, as It Continues to Pull Back from NFC Controller Market

NFC Times Exclusive: Inside Secure has reorganized its business units, as it continues to refocus its strategy toward embedded security while pulling back from the NFC controller market.

NXP Sees Second Straight Quarterly Drop in NFC Revenue; Predicts ‘Reacceleration’ in 2014

NXP Semiconductors said its NFC revenue fell in the third quarter, the second straight quarterly drop, though CEO Richard Clemmer said the Netherlands-based chip maker is “as convinced with the opportunity for NFC across the board as we ever have been,” and added that NXP would compete “aggressively” for the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Gemalto CEO: It’s a ‘Race’ between Isis and MCX, Though Both to Get Head Start on M-Payments in U.S.

Oct 25 2013

NFC Times Exclusive: France-based Gemalto today reported higher revenue in the third quarter for its mobile-payments platforms as well as increased shipments of NFC SIMs and dual-interface banking cards.

MCX Merchant Group to Enable Payments Through Individual and Core Apps

NFC Times Exclusive: The U.S. MCX merchant consortium will introduce its own mobile-commerce app, as well as making much of the same functionality available in individual apps from its members–including a proprietary mobile-payments service based on QR codes.

Australian Bank Likely First to Launch Payment on Samsung Embedded Chips; Other Banks Interested

NFC Times Exclusive: Australia’s Commonwealth Bank has disclosed plans to put a MasterCard PayPass application onto an embedded secure element in selected Android NFC phones, the first major bank to disclose plans for launching commercial NFC payments on embedded chips since Google Wallet.

Samsung Splits Supply Contracts for NFC Chips for Galaxy Note 3 Between Broadcom and NXP

NFC Times Exclusive: Samsung Electronics has split the NFC chip supply contracts for its new Galaxy Note 3, possibly the first major NFC device that has multiple chip suppliers, NFC Times has learned.

European mPOS Providers Report Growth; See Advantage in EMV Experience

NFC Times Exclusive: Mobile point-of-sale providers in Europe see significant growth in merchant numbers and transaction volumes and believe that EMV compliance will give European point-of-sale companies a leg up as they look to expand to the U.S.

Isis Provides Peek at New Wallet Design; Offers Simplified Interface for National Launch

NFC Times Exclusive: As it prepares to launch its national rollout, the Isis joint venture seeks to simplify the user interface for consumers to conduct payments and redeem offers and rewards with the second version of its mobile wallet.

NFC Backer Chunghwa Telecom Seeks Cut of Transaction Fees with New QR Code Payments Service

Taipei, TAIWAN–NFC Times Exclusive: Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest mobile operator and a long-time backer of NFC, has introduced its QR code-based mobile-payments service, with plans to pursue NFC and QR code mobile-payments in separate tracks.

Visa Cuts Deals with Telcos to Preload PayWave on NFC SIMs

Visa has done deals with major mobile operators that would have the telcos preloading the Visa payWave application on their NFC SIMs, according to a representative of Visa Europe

French Telcos Delay National NFC Rollouts; Vendors Blamed, in Part, for Interoperability Problems

NFC Times Exclusive: French mobile operators are delaying their nationwide rollout, citing interoperability problems between TSMs and SIMs provided by different vendors, among other issues, NFC Times has learned.

Visa Cuts Deals with Telcos to Preload payWave on NFC SIMs

NFC Times Exclusive: Visa has done deals with major mobile operators that would have the telcos preloading the Visa payWave application on their NFC SIMs, according to a representative of Visa Europe.

NFC SIM Shipments Reach 30 Million in H1–Matching FY 2012, as Isis Gears Up; 80 million Projected This Year

NFC Times Exclusive: SIM vendors shipped just over 31 million NFC SIM cards to mobile operators during the first half of 2013–equaling the number of NFC SIMs during all of 2012–and shipments are projected to hit 80 million for 2013, according to figures and forecasts obtained by NFC Times.

Barclaycard US Sees Higher Use of QR-Code M-Payment When Combined with Offers; but Commercial Plans Unclear

NFC Times Exclusive: Transactions increased significantly for several merchants trialing a QR-code-based mobile-payment app from Barclaycard US when the merchants added offers, but overall take-up of the bPay app has been modest, according to merchant interviews conducted by NFC Times.

Gemalto Needs Market Momentum on Mobile Payments to Hit Ambitious Profit Goals

NFC Times Exclusive Analysis: France-based Gemalto has set an ambitious goal of doubling its operating profits by 2017, and the ramping up of trusted service management business is key to hitting that objective.

Canada’s EnStream Seeks to Carve Out Role as NFC Aggregator

Canada’s fifth largest credit card issuer, Desjardins Group, plans to launch NFC mobile payments in 2014, and has become the first issuer to sign up with mobile operator joint venture EnStream in hopes of reaching subscribers from multiple telcos in the country.

Inside to Support Mifare Classic on New Embedded Chip without License; Will NXP Try to Stop It?

Aug 27 2013

NFC Times Exclusive: Chip supplier Inside Secure plans to support Mifare Classic on its new embedded secure element for NFC phones and contends it does not need a license from Mifare owner NXP Semiconductors because the technology is in the public domain. A representative of NXP warned against the move.

DeviceFidelity Prepares to Launch iPhone 5 Case; Product is Crucial for Company

NFC Times Exclusive: A long-anticipated but delayed launch of an NFC case for the iPhone 5 is finally ready to go forward, following remaining approvals needed from Visa and Apple, NFC Times has learned.

GSMA Chief: ‘Samsung will support operators that want to launch SIM-based NFC’

By the time Anne Bouverot took up her post as director general of the GSMA mobile operator trade group, in September of 2011, the pioneering NFC program at Orange group where she had worked was already more than five years old. And still there were no NFC rollouts to speak of.

Russia’s Largest Bank to Use NFC Embedded Chips; Discussing Pilot with Visa, Samsung for Sochi Games

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, plans to launch mobile payment using embedded chips in NFC phones, snubbing Russian mobile operators, the bank’s director of IT strategy told NFC Times.

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

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.

NFC Joint Patent Program Ends; No Disruption to Licensing, Say Chip Makers

A joint NFC patent licensing program set up more than five years ago to make key NFC technology available to device makers has been discontinued.

New Zealand Telcos and Bank-Owned Processor Plan NFC Joint Venture

Apr 3 2012

New Zealand’s three mobile operators 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.

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.