Mobile network operator Vodafone’s NFC mobile wallet and SmartPass prepaid payments service is to go live in Italy at the end of April. The service was launched in Spain in November 2013 and in Germany and the Netherlands in March 2014. It is also due to be introduced in the UK later this year. More
Samsung’s Galaxy Ace Style mid-range smartphone, announced this week, is to come with NFC... More
The WiFi Alliance has updated its WiFi Protected Setup certification program to include tap-to-connect functionality via NFC. The first products to support the NFC option are available now from Broadcom, Marvell, Mediatek and Qualcomm. More
French supermarket giant Carrefour, the world’s fourth largest retailer, has opened a new hypermarket equipped with 55,000 NFC shelf-edge labels that let consumers interact with products. Shoppers can also make NFC payments at the point of sale with contactless terminals. More
The DVD release of the latest instalment of The Hunger Games movie franchise is being promoted in shopping centres in Australia via digital media panels that “catch fire” when a shopper uses their mobile phone to access a game based on the movie. More
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Finnish carrier Elisa has introduced reloadable NFC payment stickers that are available to purchase from the R-Kioski convenience store chain pre-loaded with €20 of value. The MasterCard-branded stickers work with the carrier’s Elisa Lompakko wallet service and are available in a range of designs. More
Blaze Mobile is selling US patent number 8,630,905, an NFC payments patent entitled “Single Tap Transactions using a Secure Element” that dates back to 2007. The patent sale is being handled by ICAP Patent Brokerage. More
Australia’s Westpac bank is to launch its NFC mobile payments service on Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5 devices “over the next few weeks” with the functionality being “rolled out progressively” from this month. By 2015, the bank predicts, three million Australians will be using NFC to make payments. More
Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy Arts has unveiled a range of stick-on false nails that contain an NFC antenna and an LED light that can be powered up by an NFC phone. The wearer can then use a companion mobile app to select a range of situations in which their fingernail will automatically light up. More
The Royal Canadian Mint is halting development of its MintChip digital currency and is now looking to sell the business. The company has been piloting the currency in the cafeterias at its Ottawa and Winnipeg facilities since early this year, using NFC to enable employees to make purchases with the Bitcoin alternative. More
EMV and NFC payment software specialist Aconite has added support for host card emulation (HCE) and EMV tokenization to its product offering, enabling issuers to “operate an HCE and token-enabled service, including real-time data preparation, distributed EMV transaction processing, remote CVM management and mapping risk scores to card/token profiles.” More
Inside Secure has bought software obfuscation and encryption specialist Metaforic. The deal will provide “access to key technologies for enabling cloud-based mobile payments security with host card emulation” and is valued at US$11.6m plus a potential earn-out of up to US$4.5m. More
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US network Verizon has revealed details of Samsung’s latest Windows Phone handset, pre-empting the manufacturer’s own announcement of the device... More
UAE-based Mashreq Bank is now offering its credit card customers a contactless payment sticker that can be attached to a mobile phone... More
Nokia has added the Lumia 930 to its range of Windows Phone handsets. The new device features a 5-inch full HD display, 20MP pureview camera, surround sound recording and built-in wireless charging, as well as NFC. More
Paramount Pictures has used out-of-home advertising agency Kinetic and MEC to run an NFC-enabled poster campaign in Ireland for Noah, the latest Russell Crowe blockbuster. More
Canada-based prepaid program provider DCR Strategies is to provide its clients in Europe, Canada, the USA and Latin America with the ability to offer mobile payments to their customers using both “conventional” NFC solutions and host card emulation (HCE)... More
Singapore-based Mobispot Social Systems has introduced a platform that enables “modern city residents” to access a variety of services — including payments, transportation, ticketing, access control, discounts, membership and information sharing — via NFC wristbands. More
eBay has rolled out an NFC advertising campaign in 60 premium coffee shops across the UK to promote the online shopping site’s home and garden, DIY and technology sections. More
French games developer Hanakai Studio has launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter for a role playing video game (RPG) that uses NFC-enabled rings, figurines, cards and an interactive board to allow players to interact with an on-screen world “without using any keyboard, mouse or joypad”. More