Canada is at the top, in terms of market readiness for NFC payment technology
May 21st
All you have to do is “Tap & Go”…
In the next few months there will be an increase in the number of credit card and telecommunications companies enabling NFC payment technology for various Smartphones. In terms of market readiness for the “Tap & Go” payment feature, Canada is at the top of the list.
It’s no surprise though, because Canada has the right audience for this type of technology as Canadians are among the highest number of Smartphone owners worldwide. There are in addition several signature Canadian brands that have already enabled this type of payment technology.
Canada is seen to be an optimistic market for credit card companies such as MasterCard, as the receptiveness of Canadian’s to this type of technology is well known.
“Over 10% of MasterCard transactions in Canada are contactless, just waiting for smartphone enablement,” Ed McLaughlin, MasterCard’s chief emerging payments officer, said last week at a presentation during the International CTIA Wireless show in New Orleans.
MasterCard has recently certified four blackberry models for the Canadian market including the Blackberry Bold 9900 and 9790 and the Blackberry Curve 9360 and 9380.
Read more about the development of NFC payments in Canada
Read the release of guidelines for NFC payments in Canada
Read more about NFC
Carrefour City launches mobile shopping service with NFC solution, ‘Mon Panier’.
May 18th
Carrefour City has launched a mobile shopping service ‘Mon Panier’ that is based on the retail NFC solution, Airshop by Airtag. 
This service is up and running at the St. Lazarre Carrefour City location in Paris, the first of several stores to be equipped with the ‘Mon Panier’ retail NFC solution, in the next few weeks.
‘Mon Panier’ offers ample convenience’s for Carrefour City’s customers, who can now place an order and pay for purchases from the convenience of a Smartphone.
All you need to do is:
- Place the order from your Smartphone
- Within two hours the Carrefour City staff will have prepared the order
- Upon store arrival, just go to the ‘Mon Panier’ kiosk to identify yourself by either tapping your NFC mobile device to the kiosk screen with a built in NFC reader, or by placing the phone beneath the QR code reader on the bottom right of the kiosk
In addition, the ‘Mon Panier’ service, has no minimum purchase amount and no delivery or pick-up fees! It is a 100% free service!
Read more about the Carrefour City ‘Mon Panier’ shopping service.
Mastercard responds to Visa’s digital wallet with the Mastercard PayPass.
May 11th
“On May, 7 2012 Mastercard announced PayPass Wallet Services, a new global offering for banks, merchants and partners that will make it faster and easier for their customers to make purchases in stores or online by allowing them to securely pay with a simple click of the mouse, touch of the tablet screen or tap of the smartphone,” according to Mastercard’s press release.
The wallet is said to be launched in the third quarter in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia first, before the PayPass technology is extended elsewhere around the ‘globe’.
The differentiating characteristics of Mastercard’s PayPass from Visa’s V.me wallet is that it enables banks and merchants to customize their own digital wallets, so that Mastercard’s branding is not the primary focus of attention.
Additionally, Mastercard’s contactless and online payments will be launched under one brand whereas Visa is going to offer two brands, V.me wallet and Visa payWave.
Because over spending is a concern for PayPass users, Mastercard’s wallet will offer a variety of pro-consumer services including; account look-up before purchases, spending control and alerts and delivery of targeted offers coupons and loyalty programs.
Read the full press release about the features and benefits of the Mastercard PayPass
Read more about the difference between Visa V.me and the Mastercard PayPass
MasterCard is leading the way in credit card companies that support the PayPass application.
May 7th
MasterCard is leading the way for credit card companies that support the PayPass application. Currently, several more Smartphones have been certified for use with the MasterCard PayPass technology. In total 17 Smartphones have been approved for this technological development. Some of the phones have knowingly had the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology such as the LG Viper 4G LTE and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus HSPA+, however new additions to the list of approved Smartphones include; BlackBerry Bold 9900 / 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 / 9380.
“In the near future, millions of phones will ship with NFC technology embedded within them. The new PayPass Ready identifier will help consumers make informed device purchasing decisions by providing a visual mark that indicates devices are certified to make simple, smart and secure payments via the MasterCard PayPass network,” said Mung Ki Woo, group executive, Mobile at MasterCard.
Near field communication’s technology will allow customers to make secure, contactless payments at certified merchants around the world.
Read the full MasterCard press release for all of the details as well as the full list of Smartphones enabled for this technology.
Read more about the benefits of the MasterCard Pay Pass
WIMA NFC MONACO 11-13 avril 2012, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
Mar 19th
6e Congrès mondial d’applications, produits et services NFC
WIMA est le premier Salon mondial offrant des conférences et un espace d’exposition exclusivement dédiés aux services, solutions et produits NFC. Cette manifestation rassemble l’intégralité de l’écosystème NFC, accueillant les plus grands noms du secteur, aux côtés de startups, de développeurs d’applications, de revendeurs et prestataires de services, représentant une très grande variété de domaines et métiers impliqués dans le monde de la NFC, tant verticalement qu’horizontalement. More >
WIMA NFC MONACO April 11 – 13, 2012, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
Mar 19th
6th Global Applications, Products & Services Congress
WIMA is the leading global conference and exhibition exclusively dedicated to NFC services applications and, products. The event brings together the entire ecosystem with both transversal and vertical sectors from industry leaders to startups, and from application developers to merchants and service providers spanning a wide variety of industries.
Allemagne : ça roule pour le NFC !
Apr 27th
Forte de deux années d’expérimentation, la Deutsche Bahn, compagnie ferroviaire allemande, vient de confirmer son attrait pour la technologie sans contact !
RIM déploiera le NFC sur ses prochains BlackBerry
Feb 17th
« Beaucoup, voire la plupart des terminaux de cette année disposeront du NFC »
Récemment, plusieurs rumeurs spéculaient sur les caractéristiques techniques des prochains smartphones du fabricant canadien Research in Motion. Ainsi les Blackberry Curve Touch, Dakota ou encore Torch 2 sont officieusement annoncés avec une puce NFC.
Les opérateurs mobiles diffuseront un million de mobiles NFC Cityzi en 2011
Feb 9th
Après les annonces d’Orange en fin d’année 2010 concernant la vente de 500 000 mobiles NFC en France en 2011, l’ensemble des opérateurs mobiles français annoncent qu’ils diffuseront 1 millions de mobiles NFC en 2011 !