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Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

NFC TIMES Exclusive – TAIPEI, Taiwan: EasyCard Corp., which runs the largest closed-loop transit and retail payments service in Taiwan, is seeking to become the first major transit fare-collection system globally to roll out Bluetooth-based mobile ticketing. But Taiwan’s strict financial regulator still has doubts about the security of the technology.

NFC TIMES Exclusive –  Danske Bank’s MobilePay service in Denmark is one of the few mobile-wallet success stories globally, though on a small scale. Now the bank is planning to expand to other Nordic countries and seeks to continue to use BLE technology, not NFC, to enable the in-store piece of its mobile payments service.

NFC TIMES Exclusive – With Apple showing no signs of backing off its policy of restricting use of its NFC technology to Apple Pay only, banks and payments services providers are looking for ways to enable their iPhone-packing customers to pay with their phones in stores, especially in countries where Apple Pay hasn’t yet launched.

NFC Times Exclusive: The NFC-enabled Apple Watch, Apple’s first smartwatch, may drive a significant increase in adoption for wearable devices, say analysts, although it remains to be seen whether that adoption will bring with it more mobile-payments applications for wearables.

NFC Times Exclusive: Several hotel chains are planning to start equipping certain properties with door locks supporting Bluetooth low energy by the early part of next year, or are seriously investigating the technology, which enables guests to enter their rooms with keys stored on their smartphones, Legic Identsystems, one of the technology vendors involved, told NFC Times.

The first two campaigns in the U.S. on Clear Channel Outdoor’s NFC-enabled out-of-home advertising network, called Connect, will launch in the San Francisco area in September, representatives of the company told NFC Times, and they expect nationwide campaigns to go live by the fourth quarter.

NFC Times Exclusive: Proximity marketing firms in the U.S. and Europe say that their most successful campaigns see tens of thousands of taps or scans, but amid growing interest in Bluetooth low energy, they say that it is important not to over-use push advertising.

Possible use cases for Bluetooth low energy include proximity marketing, transit and event ticketing, and indoor navigation in retail stores, arenas and stadiums. Then, of course, there is payments–although it remains unclear how a BLE-based payments service would operate, and the concept remains mostly hypothetical, according to a new report on BLE from the Smart Card Alliance industry group.

NFC Times Exclusive: Despite a widespread belief in some circles that NFC and Bluetooth low energy, or BLE, are in competition, a number of observers say they believe that the two technologies will fill complementary market niches, especially in retail marketing and wearable devices.

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.