Archive for October 2012

Royal Bank of Canada is preparing to launch a mobile wallet service "within the next month", the bank's Dave McKay has told Reuters. "We're almost there; it's close," McKay explained. "It's going to be out... More

Peter Sprogis, a co-founder of NFC pioneer MoLo Rewards, is suing Google for allegedly infringing US Patent No. 7,298,271 with Google Wallet, patent attorney Leonid Kravets reports. The patent was issued in November 2007 and describes the use of RFID technology, in tag form or integrated into a mobile phone, to issue rewards to shoppers at the same time that they make a purchase.

Participants in the trial can use their NFC phones on Milan's public transport network, in around 1,000 stores and to access interactive information services. More

Citibank Hungary has begun offering contactless stickers to holders of its Citi Life, Shell Citibank and Magyar Telekom Citibank cards. The MasterCard-branded stickers can be used at any merchant equipped to handle PayPass transactions.

Beats Electronics has introduced the Beats Pill, a portable wireless speaker with built-in NFC. The US$199.95 device "is specifically designed to optimize sound quality and maximize volume" and allows NFC phone users to 'tap to... More

Google Wallet is set for a further update and users can request an invite today. Details of the update were expected to be revealed in a keynote speech at the Money2020 tradeshow in Las Vegas... More

Google has announced that US carrier MetroPCS, soon to merge with T-Mobile, is to add support for Google Wallet. The service will be available to MetroPCS customers with a Samsung Galaxy S III phone.

Isis NFC mobile wallet users in Salt Lake City will be able to ride free on all Utah Transit Authority (UTA) public bus, Trax light rail and Frontrunner commuter rail services when they use their Isis Mobile Wallet, the NFC venture — which launched today — has told NFC World.

The BlackBerry maker has been selected by Canadian carrier joint venture EnStream to handle secure credential management for SIMs used in both Android and Windows smartphones as well as its own BlackBerry NFC devices. More

From today, customers of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile with an NFC phone can collect an Isis-enabled SIM from any of the carriers' stores in the two pilot cities. More

The second commercial NFC service to go live in Poland this month has the backing of five banks and supports payments via both debit and credit cards. More

Chip maker NXP and content mobility specialist sMedio have announced they are working together on NFC-WiFi solutions that will make it easy for content to be transferred between NFC-enabled Windows 8 PCs and phones running... More

The total value of NFC mobile payment transactions will increase from US$4bn in 2012 to pass $100bn in 2016 and US$191bn in 2017, according to a new forecast by ABI Research. 26% of NFC handsets will house a contactless ticketing application in five years time, the researchers add.

TSM software and services provider Sequent is the new owner of troubled NFC pioneer Vivotech's software division. "The acquisition enables Sequent to integrate banks and other service provider's credentials more efficiently into the secure element... More

Pierre Combelles has been appointed as the GSMA's new business lead for NFC, replacing Nav Bains, who left to join Vivotech earlier this year. Combelles joins the GSMA from France Telecom-Orange group, where he was... More

Product labelling supplier FineLine Technologies, NFC and QR code specialist ClikGenie and tag maker Smartrac have launched ClikSecure, an NFC-based service for brands and retailers. ClikSecure offers both product authentication for brands and information services... More

Contactless and NFC specialist On Track Innovations (OTI) reports that it has received an order valued at US$2m for NFC and contactless payment readers to be deployed in the US. 25% of the order is to be fulfilled this year with the rest to be delivered in 2013.

NFC test equipment supplier Clear2Pay and graphical user interface testing specialist TestPlant have introduced a fully automated mobile payment app testing solution. The Mobile Payment App Test Solution comprises three elements in one tool: Simulation:... More

Isis is to launch its NFC-based payments system in two test markets on Monday, the US carrier-owned venture has confirmed. "Isis will be launching in Austin and Salt Lake City on October 22," says head of marketing Jaymee Johnson. "By year end, as many as 20 Isis Ready handsets are expected to be in market. We look forward to sharing more details on October 22."

The mobile network operators' trade association has published a technical document that sets out how carriers around the world could implement core NFC mobile wallet functions in a standard manner — and is asking potential service providers, suppliers and other interested parties to provide feedback on the plans. More