NFC - Delay in Netherlands

Dutch banks and telcos push NFC m-payments back to 2013

Dutch banks and telcos have firmed up their commitment to introduce contactless mobile payments but expect to introduce services in 2013, a year later than initially planned.

 

A consortium comprising ABN Amro, ING, KPN, Rabobank, T-Mobile and Vodafone inked a letter of intent in September 2010 to form a joint venture creating a single uniform system for mobile transactions in the Netherlands by 2012.

However, the players have pushed back their expected launch date by a year because they still need to go to the European Commission within the next few weeks to get competition law clearance, which could come early next year.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile has pulled out of the group, stressing its belief in mobile payments but wanting to decide at a "later stage" how to approach the issue. The remaining members insist that their service will be open to all banks, mobile operators and other companies that want to use it.

Who will win the fight for mobile land grab?

1. Battle over mobile payments intensifies

   
   

    

   Google, PayPal, Visa and leading mobile phone operators are all rushing to announce mobile payments services.

Tick Tock Shop

Pre-paid contactless wristwatch launched

MasterCard has teamed up with manufacturer Laks and issuer Vincento to launch a wristwatch featuring PayPass contactless payments technology.

 

Wearers will be able to make payments of up to £15 by tapping their Watch2pay piece against PayPass readers in more than 70,000 UK shops to make purchases.

The wristwatchs are being sold online and come with a reloadable MasterCard pre-paid card that is valid for up to two years.

Lucas Scheybal, CEO, Laks, says: "As watches are incredibly popular as well as personal to each individual, they are ideal for this Tap & Go technology. We are thoroughly excited to be bringing this unique design to the UK market, especially with the support of MasterCard."



Despite some claims to the contrary, the Laks watch is not the UK's first MasterCard pre-paid contactless effort, coming two years after Altair Financial Services launched its effort.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Garanti Bank partnered MasterCard to issue limited edition PayPass watches to holders of its contactless credit cards in 2007, while in 2006 Taiwan's Chinatrust Commercial Bank launched a football-themed wrist watch featuring PayPass technology ahead of the Fifa World Cup in Germany.

Verifone’s Credit Card Swipe System for iPhone to be Marketed by Elavon

      
Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, will market and support VeriFone Systems, Inc.’s PAYware Mobile secure card payment system for the Apple iPhone.
The solution transforms the iPhone into a mobile payment device with a card encryption sleeve that allows merchants to capture data via card swipe, a more secure, cost effective method than manually entering data.
PAYware Mobile will be marketed through Elavon’s established sales channels including bank relationships, telesales, third-party providers and associations. It extends the flexibility of accepting card payments wherever and whenever a merchant requires, and offers real-time reporting including extensive transaction search capabilities. The PAYware Mobile app is PCI compliant, and the card encryption sleeve is compatible with the iPhone 3G and 3GS.
“VeriFone’s PAYware Mobile is a simple, secure and convenient solution ideal for our small business customers,” said Mike Passilla, president and CEO of Elavon. “Technology is rapidly changing the payments landscape, and mobile applications are leading the evolution. The ability to deliver secure, innovative solutions is a cornerstone for driving customer satisfaction and generating new business among merchants that have yet to adopt payment technology.”
“Elavon’s agreement to support PAYware Mobile reflects growing industry excitement over the leading card payment solution for iPhone,” said Paul Rasori, VeriFone senior vice president of marketing. “Elavon’s sales force will significantly expand the marketing reach for this innovative system.”
PAYware Mobile incorporates a stylus for signature capture and a mini-USB port for charging the iPhone while the ergonomic card encryption sleeve is attached. PAYware Mobile incorporates VeriFone’s VeriShield Protect end-to-end encryption technology for secure card payments

Will 2012 be the rise of the mobile payment machine?

Mobile - Mobile Payments 2012: Will This Be the Year? [VIDEO] | PYMNTS.com: http://pymnts.com/briefingroom/mobile-commerce/mobile-briefing-room/mobile-payments-2012-will-this-be-the-year-video/#.TtS7rEabdKY.twitter

Fully certified and COMPLIANT mobile payment solution

Mobile Credit Card Processing | Mobile Payment App | Mobile Card...cardeasemobile.com

CardEase Mobile payments app is the world's first chip and PIN card payment app for businesses on the move that require mobile credit card processing.

Come Dine with me

WorldPay and Diners Club Expand Acceptance Partnership in Europe

WorldPay and Diners Club International (DCI), a business unit of Discover Financial Services, have announced the signing of a merchant acquiring agreement that will increase the acceptance of Discover and Diners Club cards in the U.K. "WorldPay will build on its current relationship by adding Diners Club and Discover as standard options to its portfolio of payments processing services beginning in early 2012, in time for the summer Olympic Games in London."

Mobile Payment takeup will come faster than predicted

 

Paypal sets 2016 as tipping point for m-payments on the high street; Barclays sees shorter time-span

Hands Free Payment

Square Tweaks Mobile Payments — Now Hands-Free!

With mobile payments, we’ve seen the tap, the swipe, the passcode and all sorts of other innovations.



But in this game of one-upmanship, Square has thrown down the gauntlet by announcing this morning that it has made the payment process hands-free.
The San Francisco company, which was recently valued at $1 billion, said it has made it as easy to pay as saying your name.
A new version of its application, called Card Case, will leverage geo-fencing capabilities in Apple’s latest operating system update for the iPhone. The technology will identify when a person is within 100 meters of a favorite merchant.
Square’s Director of Products Megan Quinn explains that when a shopper is within range, a tab at that establishment will automatically open — without that person ever touching his or her iPhone. Once the user places an order and goes to pay, all they have to do is give their name.



The merchant will see on its iPad that a tab has been opened in that person’s name from inside the Square app.
Once a customer gets outside of the 100-meter range again, the tab will automatically close, whether a transaction was conducted or not. In theory, this means it would only be open for a few minutes if the shopper simply walked by a coffee shop and didn’t stop.
In addition to having to have an iPhone with the latest operating system, the consumer will also have to designate shopping establishments at which tabs could be automatically opened.
Since Square opened it up eight weeks ago, 20,000 merchants nationwide have joined the Card Case app’s directory.
In May, Square unveiled its mobile payments strategy for small retailers, including the iPhone and Android applications for consumers and the iPad software for merchants. Before that, it had focused primarily on allowing small businesses to accept credit cards using a swipe accessory plugged into a smartphone’s headphone jack.
Quinn said the most obvious benefits to the new features are speed and ease of use; however, there’s a more touchy-feely reason, too. “We’ve removed the artifacts from the experience, so it’s about the interaction between the merchant and the customers.”
In other words, it’s like walking into Cheers, where everybody knows your name.

 

Visa rewards it's cardholders

Shopkick Rewards Visa Cardholders When and Where they Shop

Visa and shopkick have announced that cardholders can now qualify for valuable rewards just for paying with Visa.

Shopkick now lets mobile users earn more redeemable kicks by choosing to link their eligible Visa debit or credit card into its new Buy & Collect program and then making qualifying purchases at participating shopkick merchants with the linked card. Shopkick users have the option to earn more rewards while shopping in their favorite stores and merchants can increase sales and better measure the effectiveness of their location-based marketing efforts.

Through Visa’s real-time messaging platform, shopkick merchants can also offer Visa cardholders rewards visiting and browsing in a store, as well as making qualifying purchases while they are in the store.

Will the US settle on iZettle? or is it good to be Square?

High-Tech Startup Focus: iZettle -- the New, Better Square -- Coming...huffingtonpost.com

With all of the deflating noises of Groupon and Zynga, is it possible Square might find themselves going the way of PayPal; downhill?

Africa leads the way in NFC

Why Africa has NFC-free mobile payments today, and we’re still waiting

Read 'Why Africa has NFC-free mobile payments today, and we're still waiting' on Digital Trends. Visa's new prepaid mobile payment service lets people pay each other, buy and sell online, and spend money anywhere that accepts...

Google Merges

Google Checkout is Transitioning to Google Wallet

Google has announced on their blog that they are merging their two wallets (Google Checkout online and Google Wallet in phone) into a single wallet that can be used online from your computer and used in-store with your phone.

Ingenico scores a point against Verifone

Renewal of @Ingenico and #Nets Partnership for the Nordic Region - http://t.co/Mm2v2Lxqingenico Renewal of @Ingenico and #Nets Partnership for the Nordic Region - http://t.co/Mm2v2Lxq