Turkish payment system operator BKM has added a host card emulation (HCE) option to its platform, providing the country’s issuing banks with a way to offer HCE payments to their customers for the first time... More
SIM
SIMalliance updates OMAPI
SIMalliance has published version 3.0 of its Open Mobile API Specification, bringing with it support for “every type of smartphone OS globally”... More
Optus launches NFC payments in Australia
Australian carrier Optus has teamed up with Visa and Heritage Bank to launch an NFC mobile payment service that lets customers load up to A$500 into a prepaid account and then make payments at any Visa contactless POS terminal... More
Eurosmart forecasts 600m NFC SEs in 2015
A total of 8bn secure elements will be shipped this year, with SIM cards accounting for 5.1bn of the total, according to new statistics released by smart security industry association Eurosmart, with the total rising to 12bn in 2020... More
Apple builds SIM into iPad Air 2
Buyers of the iPad Air 2 will be the first to use a new Apple SIM that comes preinstalled in the Wi-Fi+Cellular version of the tablet and looks set to be the first implementation of a “SIM Within” patent published in November 2011. More
New Zealand banks and carriers to begin Semble NFC wallet rollout in November
TSM NZ, the NFC payments joint venture between New Zealand’s carriers and the Paymark payments network, has announced a new brand name, a November date for its first trials — and a marketing partnership with Samsung... More
NFC technology report available for free download
NFC Technologies and Systems, a 98-page report that explains in detail the technology behind NFC tag reading and writing, the role and functionality of trusted service managers (TSMs), how secure elements work and how they keep sensitive data secure is now available as a free download in the NFC World+ Knowledge Centre... More
China Mobile picks Gemalto for NFC ticketing in Beijing
China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile network operator, has chosen Gemalto to supply it with NFC-enabled SIMs “to protect consumer credentials used for mobile contactless applications, starting with mass transit services in Beijing.”... More
iPhone 6 teardown shows NFC chips from NXP — and AMS
A teardown conducted by iFixit shows that Apple is using NFC chips from both NXP and AMS in the new iPhone 6, which began shipping today. The inclusion of an NXP chip was expected but the AMS chip is a surprise addition. More
No support for carriers’ NFC SIMs in Apple devices?
Softcard, the US carrier-backed NFC venture formerly known as Isis, won’t have access to the NFC support in the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch until 2015, a blog post by CEO Michael Abbott suggests — and, even then, it looks as though it won’t be via a conventional NFC-enabled SIM... More
23 Apple patents related to NFC and mobile payments
Apple has been steadily building a portfolio of patents related to NFC and mobile payments over recent years, from as far back as 2009. NFC World+ has reported on these as they have been published and links are provided here to details of 23 patents covering technical innovations and use cases in payments, mobile marketing, coupon delivery, gifting, event ticketing, content sharing, travel and beyond. More
NTT Docomo picks Gemalto for NFC
NTT Docomo, Japan’s largest mobile phone carrier, is to use Gemalto’s Allynis trusted service management (TSM) service and its UpTeq SIMs for the rollout of its NFC platform... More
SIMalliance publishes NFC paper
The SIMalliance has set out its recommendations for UICC configuration and feature requirements for NFC payments in a new paper called UICC Configuration for Mobile NFC Payments v1.0... More
Microsoft publishes WP8.1 NFC guide
Microsoft has published a guide to developing UICC-based card emulation apps for WP8.1 devices... More
GSMA publishes NFC coupon and loyalty technical proposal
The GSMA has published Mobile Commerce, NFC Coupons and Loyalty Acceptance, a technical proposal based on open standards that aims to provide “the tools, knowledge and methodology for mobile operators and the wider retail ecosystem to work together to develop a consistent approach to mobile loyalty and couponing”... More
Base launches NFC payments and coupons in Germany
German customers of mobile network operator Base, part of the E-Plus group, can now make payments, store membership cards and redeem coupons with their NFC phone... More
Alpha Bank launches NFC in Greece
Greece’s Alpha Bank has officially launched its Tap n Pay NFC mobile payment service... More
Air France lets passengers board planes with NFC
Air France, Orange, SITA, Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and RESA have teamed up to provide an NFC boarding experience, allowing a select number of passengers to move through the airport — from entering the building to boarding the plane — by tapping their Orange NFC smartphone at dedicated terminals... More
BBVA launches NFC payments based on Visa HCE specifications
BBVA has become the first bank to launch a commercial NFC payments service that makes use of Visa’s cloud-based payments specifications... More
GSMA supports HCE guide
A guide to host card emulation (HCE) and SIM-based NFC payments options has been produced by Consult Hyperion, in conjunction with GSMA... More