NFC Times Exclusive: The major payments schemes have kept a low public profile in their work on host-card emulation, but they have been quietly fast-tracking the drafting of specifications for the technology for use with their NFC-mobile payments applications, NFC Times has learned.
Visa is expected to announce specifications very soon, as early as this week, while MasterCard Worldwide is believed to be expediting the process, as well, and should have host-card emulation, or HCE, specifications ready by the middle of the year, sources told NFC Times. The payment networks might also make announcements at next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The schemes are already working with some banks on HCE, with some launches expected later this year, said sources.