While many doubt that telcos and banks will ever agree on a business model for NFC and complain about the continued lack of phones supporting the technology, two major players in the United Kingdom–Barclaycard and Orange UK–are preparing for a commercial launch.
One of the largest card issuers in the UK, Barclaycard, and the soon-to-be-biggest mobile operator, Orange UK, are expected to begin rolling out NFC by the end of the year. If they hit that mark, it would be one of the first major commercial launches of NFC services worldwide. It could also spur others into action sooner, such as the mobile-payment partnership of UK telco O2 and NatWest bank.
A year ago, Orange and Barclaycard announced plans to eventually launch NFC mobile payment and other services. And they later let it be known their target was 2010 for a rollout. In January, they introduced a contactless cobranded card that customers could tap to pay at retail outlets and receive SMS transaction alerts.