Apple today announced an unprecedented range of additions to its product catalogue, including the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch. The keynote session in Cupertino, California, saw the unveiling of new NFC mobile payment capabilities to be built as standard into the new models, and the launch of the Apple’s foray into the wearable technology space with Apple Watch, as widely anticipated.
Multiple reports predict Apple will reveal partnerships with the major credit card providers as part of a new mobile wallet initiative that will be unveiled at the big annual iPhone launch, set for 9 September.
UK carrier EE this week enabled its own flavour of NFC, dubbed Cash on Tap, for London’s bus network, allowing customers to use their phone in lieu of an Oyster card or contactless debit card. Users will need an EE handset and an NFC-capable SIM.
Brazilian banking group Bradesco is planning to roll out NFC mobile payments across Brazil by summer 2014, through a partnership with mobile operator Claro and SIM card provider Giesecke & Devrient.
Four Asian mobile operators have teamed up to form an alliance to accelerate the adoption of NFC technology worldwide. Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom, Hong Kong’s HKT, Japan’s KDDI and SK Planet, a wholly owned subsidiary of South Korea’s SK Telecom announced the formation of the Asia NFC Alliance with the support of trade association GSMA at Mobile World Congress.
Operator group Vodafone has announced an NFC mobile payment service in Spain. The group plans to launch the service at the end of November, with launches in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK to follow.
Norwegian carrier Telenor has teamed up with DNB, the country’s largest bank, and identity management specialist Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) to introduce Norway’s first commercial NFC project.
The latest version of the Isis mobile wallet service has been launched across the US, following 18 months of testing in Texas and Utah by AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless.
iPhone maker Apple looks to be considering adopting NFC as details of a patent application emerge for gifting media files from one iOS user to another.
Near field communication (NFC) mobile wallet services are finally gaining momentum, according to research from Berg Insight. The firm reported that there were mobile wallet services commercially live in 13 countries worldwide at the end of 1Q13, up from just six countries at the end of 2011.
NFC technology advocates face continued disappointment in 2013 as it is likely to be overshadowed by other developments in retail payments, according to a report by financial research firm Celent.
For many years, near-field communications (NFC) technology has been touted as the next big thing; an opportunity for operator to get themselves into the payment space. However, the technology is yet to take off outside of select markets and now faces continued disappointment in 2013, when it is likely to be overshadowed by other developments in retail payments, according to a new report by financial research firm Celent.
South Korean operator group KT Korea has purchased 500,000 NFC-LTE SIMs in a bid to stimulate adoption of contactless payment services among its user base. The operator said that the SIM will enable its customers to use their smartphones to pay for transit fares or to retail products at 200,000 contactless terminals.
Google has improved the integration of its mobile wallet application with online retailers in a bid to stimulate mobile financial transactions. From this week, on sites that accept Google Wallet, users will no longer need to enter their credit or debit card number, billing address or other payment information.
In an attempt to ignite take up of its m-wallet offering, Google has launched a cloud-based version of its wallet for its US users. As a result, users can now add Visa, American Express and Discover credit and debit cards, as well as MasterCard, to their wallet.
The NFC retail payments market will be worth more than $180bn globally by 2017, marking a seven-fold increase over the value of the market in 2012, according to Juniper Research. The firm said that that the North America, Western Europe and Far East regions will contribute 90 per cent of this market value, as smartphones with NFC payment technology become standard in those markets.
German operator Deutsche Telekom has signed a European partnership deal with payment provider MasterCard to enable consumers to use their mobile phones as an electronic wallet.
French incumbent Orange has begun offering NFC-enabled SIM cards nationwide in preparation for what it calls the “mass deployment” of mobile contactless services. The UpTeq NFC SIM cards are supplied by Gemalto and, the firms said, are the first SIMs on the market to offer the same security level as chip-based payment or smart cards.
Orange’s director of contactless services has admitted concerns that near-field communication (NFC) technology may never gain mainstream acceptance if businesses do not utilise it to provide compelling services for consumers.
A survey carried out at MWC by mobile commerce and messaging specialist Sybase 365 has found that 81 per cent of mobile industry executives believe that NFC will not emerge as a driver for mass adoption of mobile payment services for another two to five years. Less than ten per cent of delegates polled said they believed that NFC payments would become mainstream in the next year.
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