The UK’s Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest banks, both part of RBS group, have launched TouchPay, an NFC payments service first announced in July... More
UK banks launch iPhone NFC payments service
Visa Europe
Raiffeisen Bank: Our NFC payments service could cut merchant fees by 70%
The Austrian bank’s CardMobile service allows low value transactions to be aggregated, removing the need for each transaction to be authorised individually while still keeping a full audit trail of purchases made. More
Visa releases Olympics NFC and contactless usage statistics
“The response has been extremely positive and our priority now is on turning that enthusiasm into commercial mobile payment deployments across Europe,” says Visa’s Mary Carol Harris, adding that “we recognise that the journey is a marathon, not a sprint.” More
Telefonica begins commercial NFC service in Czech Republic
Two thousand customers who purchase a Samsung Galaxy S III are to be the first Czech consumers to take part in a commercial NFC payments service, offered by carrier Telefonica in conjunction with Komerční Banka, Visa Europe and Samsung. More
ING to pilot NFC in Poland
ING Bank Slaski is to conduct a twelve month NFC payments trial in Poland... More
Telefónica picks Visa for mobile payments in Europe
Telefónica Digital has appointed Visa Europe as its preferred mobile payments partner for its O2 and Movistar networks in Europe in a deal described as “a wide ranging strategic partnership to drive new business opportunities within mobile commerce.”... More
Visa and Samsung reveal Olympics NFC payments plans
The payments network and the phone maker will be issuing limited edition Samsung Galaxy S III handsets loaded with a Visa NFC payments app to athletes and other VIPs during the London 2012 Games. More
Visa to launch V.me digital wallet in UK, France and Spain
“Our intention is that V.me will ultimately be able to incorporate any or all of our new payment technologies, allowing our members to deliver the best possible payments experience whether face-to-face, online or in a mobile environment,” says Visa Europe’s Mariano Dima. More
O2 Wallet launches in the UK: NFC to be added “in time”
Amid on-going delays for the UK mobile network operators’ Project Oscar NFC joint venture, O2 has moved ahead with the launch of a mobile wallet that offers a suite of payments and marketing services to any mobile phone user, regardless of the carrier they get their mobile service from — with NFC to arrive later. More
Vodafone to roll out mobile payments with Visa
The telecoms giant, which has 400m customers in more than thirty countries, is working with Visa to introduce a global Vodafone Mobile Wallet. Subscribers in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and the UK will be the first to get the new service, beginning this financial year. More
Komerční Banka to launch NFC payments in Czech Republic
The bank has partnered with Visa Europe for a limited commercial NFC payments rollout, using iPhone 4 and 4S handsets equipped with Wireless Dynamics’ iCarte accessory. More
Romanian banks look to NFC
Visa Europe is in discussion with banks in Romania with a view to introducing NFC payments, possibly as soon as this year, Catalin Cretu, the payments network’s country manager for Romania, has told local business newspaper ZF... More
Visa mobile spend heads for 50%
Over half the spending put through Visa in Europe in 2020 will be via a mobile device, predicts the payments company... More
Spanish banks prepare Barcelona and Madrid for mobile payments
La Caixa is to equip all its 17,000 retail points-of-sale in Barcelona with contactless POS terminals while BBVA and Bankia are converting 7,000 points-of-sale in central Madrid, with the aim of paving the way for NFC mobile payments. More
Visa certifies Samsung, LG and BlackBerry NFC phones for mobile payments
The Samsung Galaxy S II, LG Optimus Net NFC, BlackBerry Bold 9900/9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9360/9380 have now been added to the list of approved Visa payments products, enabling financial institutions to use them in commercial NFC deployments for the first time. More
Visa Europe: 2012 to be contactless tipping point
87% of contactless cardholders in the UK, Poland and Turkey believe contactless cards will be “instrumental in bringing mobile contactless payments to market in the near future,” according to Visa Europe‘s latest Contactless Barometer survey... More
Landesbank plans NFC payments
Germany’s Landesbank Berlin has begun testing NFC payments, using iPhones equipped with an iCaisse NFC case, in conjunction with Visa Europe and Swiss Post Solutions, a division of the Swiss postal service... More
Czech firms report on NFC trial
Supermarket chain Globus is to equip all its new stores with contactless POS terminals following a successful six month NFC payments trial conducted in conjunction with Telefónica O2, Komerční Banka, Citibank and Visa Europe. More
Visa tests iPhone NFC in Poland
The payments network has partnered with BRE Bank’s mBank and MultiBank divisions to test the use of Apple iPhones equipped with an iCarte NFC accessory. More
Visa vending goes contactless
Visa Europe is moving to contactless payments for the vending machines in its UK offices after a six month trial conducted with vending specialist Vianet in which a dozen machines recorded more than 10,000 contactless transactions... More