UAE: Telco-Bank Partnership Tests Waters for Possible NFC Launch

 

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DubaiUnited Arab Emirates
Scope: 
Trial
Launch: 
Dec 2009
Main Application: 
Payment
Mobile Operator: 
Emirates Integrated Telecommunications (du)
Service Provider (application): 
Dubai First (MasterCard PayPass)
Merchants: 
250 to 450 in UAE
Users: 
About 250
NFC Handsets: 
Nokia 6212
TSM*: 
Vivotech
Secure Element: 
Embedded
Other Vendors: 
MasterCard Worldwide, Vivotech (wallet software, POS readers), NXP Semiconductors (NFC phone chip, secure element)

Trial organizers are drawing participants for the trial from Dubai First Platinum MasterCard card customers, which carry the PayPass application. The roughly 250 users will be able to tap their phones wherever PayPass is accepted for the planned six-month trial. The trial is late, waiting for MasterCard certification, said a source.

NFC Times Take: 

The partners in this trial, credit card issuer Dubai First and mobile operator du, announced they have plans to launch NFC technology commercially with “several specialty applications” in addition to payment by the end of 2009. That didn't happen. But NFC activity is heating up in the Persian Gulf with trials also announced by multinational telco Zain with the National Bank of Kuwait, as well as financial institution Emirates NBD and mobile operator Etisalat. The latter trial is also behind schedule.

 

 

* 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.

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