Author archive: Sarah Clark

A total of 168m NFC controller ICs and 144m NFC secure element chips were shipped in 2012, according to ABI Research, and NXP topped the chip supplier list for both. For NFC controller chips, NXP... More

Just over 950m mobile phone users worldwide are forecast to use their handsets for mobile ticketing by 2018, up from 458m this year, according to a new report from Juniper Research, but NFC ticketing will... More

Weve, the mobile advertising and payments joint venture formed last year by UK mobile network operators Vodafone, EE and O2, aims to launch a mass market NFC payments service "by next year", CEO David Sear... More

Between 2012 and 2017 the installed base of NFC-enabled handsets will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 65% to reach 2.1bn units, according to new research from Berg Insight. "The penetration rate for NFC across all handset segments will similarly increase to approximately 32% by 2017." More

Worldwide mobile payment transaction values will reach US$235.4bn in 2013, a 44% increase on 2012's $163.1bn, according to a new forecast from Gartner — but NFC transactions will account for a smaller than expected proportion... More

The new service enables keys, certificates and NFC credentials to be stored securely in a remote location, rather than in the mobile device, is fully compatible with standard EMV contactless payments terminals and enables card issuers to deploy NFC solutions without the need to partner with mobile network operators or other third parties. More

Google CEO Larry Page has become personally involved in decisions surrounding the future direction of Google Wallet, AllThingsD reports, leading to the cancellation of plans to introduce a physical Google Wallet card and the departure... More

"The telcos keep on doing the same thing, they get arrogant and then they get disintermediated," MasterCard's Jorn Lambert has told The Australian Financial Review. More

"The HKMA will work with the industry to promote a fully interoperable and versatile platform to enable Hong Kong to enter into a new era of diversified retail payments," says Peter Pang, deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. More

MasterCard's move to increase the fees charged to "staged" digital wallets like PayPal could see a similar surcharge being applied by Visa. "I think it is totally appropriate to do that," Visa chief executive Charlie... More

The new fee is to be applied to "staged" digital and mobile wallets that provide a way for transactions to be charged to a customer's credit card without any details about the purchase being passed on to the payments network. PayPal and Google Wallet as well as a number of other new market entrants are all expected to be affected but "traditional" NFC wallets will not.  More

Sixteen Korean banks have introduced BankWallet, a prepaid NFC payments service that uses a platform developed by interbank clearing house KFTC. SK Telecom subscribers with an NFC phone will be the first to be able to use the new service and KT customers will be added soon. More

Samsung's Galaxy S4 will come with Visa's payWave contactless payments applet preloaded into an embedded secure element. This, says Samsung, "can be used by both MNOs and banks; more payment applets from multiple brands are... More

The smartphone maker's new flagship device is the first to use Mobeam technology, allowing coupons, loyalty cards, gift cards, event tickets and more to be transmitted from the device to any of the 165m laser scanners installed in retail stores today. More

Fast food chain KFC, the new Danny Boyle movie Trance and the West End musical The Bodyguard are the first to take advantage of out-of-home media owner Clear Channel's new platform.  More

Taiwan-based RFID specialist Jogtek has launched a range of NFC-enabled shelf-edge labels that work without a battery. The passive labels can be updated via an NFC phone and can also be used by NFC phone... More

Reports from Taiwan suggest that local firm Chipbond has won a major contract from Apple to build components for a forthcoming iPhone 5S. "iPhone 5S will also feature NFC (near field communication) fingerprint recognition technology,... More

Up to 20% of the workforce could lose their jobs at the publicly listed NFC, contactless and security chip specialist following the announcement that revenues fell by 19% in 2012 and losses were "impacted by the disappointing performance from the NFC business". More

"Active Boost technology from AMS changes the game because it enables NFC to become a 'plug and play' function for any device with a microSD, SD or SIM card slot," says AMS' Mark Dickson. More

A anti-theft service for bicycles has been introduced by Italian firm Bike Identificator. Both an NFC tag and an RFID tag, fixed to the chassis of the bike, are used in combination with an online... More