The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Visa Europe by Visa... More
Competition
European spend on payments technology to rise
Nearly three quarters of European retailers and financial institutions (71%) plan to increase their spending on payments technology in the next 18 to 24 months due to increasing competition and a feeling of being “under siege”, research from ACI Worldwide and Ovum shows... More
CES hosts BLE scavenger hunt
Attendees at this year’s CES show in Las Vegas had the chance to participate in a scavenger hunt that used Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons provided by Radius Networks... More
Kontakt.io puts on $1m beacon hunt at CES
Beacon solution provider Kontakt.io is hosting a Bluetooth-based treasure hunt with a million dollar prize at the CES in Las Vegas... More
US payments body hits out at Rite Aid and CVS
“The decision by CVS and Rite Aid to block mobile payments services like Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Softcard is anti-consumer and anti-competitive,” says US-based trade body the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), following the MCX consortium members’ decision to stop accepting NFC payments... More
Bell ID and Aditium win awards
Bell ID and Spanish ticketing specialist Aditium have picked up awards at a live pitch contest to identify ‘the next big thing’ in proximity... More
Warner Music distributes NFC guitar picks to fans
Fans attending gigs by Warner Music act The Wild Feathers have been provided with guitar picks containing an NFC tag... More
Portsmouth FC engages fans with NFC
Portsmouth Football Club has added stickers containing NFC tags and QR codes to the back of seats in its stadium, enabling fans to enter a Man of the Match competition by tapping or scanning the sticker on the seat in front of them... More
NXP offers prizes to NFC devs
NXP has teamed up with Microsoft, Lenovo and Identive to run an NFC Windows Application Contest... More
Edmonton mall goes NFC
Shoppers at the Southgate Centre mall in Edmonton, Canada, can now access a range of information and offers by tapping their NFC phone to interactive directory points provided by Visionstate... More
Fashion retailer uses NFC to engage party-goers
Hong Kong fashion retailer Central Central has used NFC at a party celebrating its second anniversary... More
NFC app wins €10,000
An app that allows NFC wallet users to share information on the purchases they make as well as recommend promotions and businesses to other users has won the €10,000 (US$13,588) first prize in a hackathon organized by Spain’s CaixaBank... More
Absolut runs NFC campaign
Absolut Vodka is promoting its new bottle designs using NFC posters located in 20 venues in Dublin... More
NFC treasure hunt drives shoppers to town centres
A group of leading UK retailers have participated in an NFC treasure hunt, developed by MoLo Rewards and the Association of Town & City Management... More
Guinness adds NFC to founts across UK and Ireland
Guinness has installed 11,442 drink dispensers equipped with NFC functionality in pubs and bars across the UK, as well as 2,800 in Ireland. Plans call for a further 53,000 founts in the UK and 12,155 in Ireland to get NFC by 2015. More
Orange announces NFC Awards winners
France-based mobile network operator Orange has revealed the winners of its €40,000 competition for NFC application developers at a ceremony in the Jardins de l’Innovation in Paris... More
Wooshping adds music to Spotify playlists via NFC
UK-based Wooshping has shown how bands can use NFC tags to allow fans to add their music to Spotify playlists, so just tapping a smart poster can start a track playing... More
Asian mobile alliance promotes NFC with poster campaign
The Conexus Mobile Alliance, a regional grouping of mobile network operators, is promoting NFC throughout Asia with a “Tap and Get” smart poster campaign... More
Samsung promotes NFC with Robbie Williams taxi cab competition
Samsung has launched a campaign to give Robbie Williams fans the chance to meet the star by simply tapping NFC tags located in black cabs in three UK cities... More
GSMA to offer NFC Experience at Mobile Asia Expo
The GSMA has partnered with China Mobile to promote NFC at this year’s Mobile Asia Expo, following the successful NFC Experience provided to attendees at Mobile World Congress 2013... More