Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Bourne Ultimatum movie goers to get special PayPass contactless fob

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Patrons at the premiere of the new film, the Bourne Ultimatum, will get to test out a contactless keyfob with MasterCard’s PayPass technology. The first 600 ticket buyers using their MasterCard at two NYC theaters will get the Oberthur fob with a TI chip, preloaded with $10 to spend at the concession stands.


Bourne Ultimatum PayPass Promo Features Fobs from Oberthur and TI

Oberthur and Texas Instruments are teaming up to give movie goers a taste of the high-tech spy world portrayed in the “Bourne Ultimatum” by handing out contactless payment fobs to be used for free refreshments courtesy of MasterCard.

A lucky 600 people – the first 300 of each of two theaters in New York City – who purchase tickets to the movie on August 3 using their Mastercard, will receive next generation payment devices pre-loaded with a $10 credit good for purchases at concession stands where MasterCard’s PayPass is accepted. Theater goers just tap their PayPass-enabled device on the PayPass reader and they are on their way. The contactless fob, manufactured by Oberthur Card Systems, contains an ISO/ IEC 14443 microprocesser, payment application and the industry’s smallest fully-certified RF (Radio Frequency) antenna made by Texas Instruments.

Contactless cards are expected to help banks and financial services capture the quick service restaurant market – a $120 billion industry where transaction speed is critical. An estimated 177 million contactless cards will be in use by 2010 (1). Oberthur, the number one contactless card provider in the U.S., produced the original MasterCard in 1966. More than 200 million Americans carry Oberthur cards in their wallet.

With more than a decade of contactless payment experience, TI has delivered tens of millions of chips to the market. TI’s microprocessor operates at extremely low power using a tiny RF antenna to deliver a fast transaction speed (typically 120 milliseconds) and a four centimeter read range, which enables a successful transaction the first time a customer “taps” the fob to the payment reader. [end] 

A new survey from Euro Kartensysteme shows that Germans are starting to embrace the idea of contactless and NFC payments.

Out of 1,040 Germans aged 18-59, 43% responded that they would like to make contactless payments if given the opportunity, of which 58% percent would make their payments with a debit card card, 41% with a credit card and 50% with an NFC phone.

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Laks has announced the commercial launch of its watch2pay contactless-enabled wristwatch in the UK.

Equipped with MasterCard’s PayPass technology, the watch can be used to make contactless purchases of up to £15 in more than 70,000 UK retailers now accepting PayPass payments.

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As some may recall back in June 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York launched tap-and-go contactless payments for commuters to enter select subway stations and participating bus lines using MasterCard PayPass-enabled terminals. Well, the results are in.

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Turkcell, Turkey’s largest mobile operator, has announced the launch of its Cep-T Cüzdan NFC mobile wallet application on BlackBerry Bold 9900 smart phones.

Turkcell subscribers with NFC-enabled Bold 9900s can now use the mobile wallet service to make contactless payments at any MasterCard PayPass-enabled point of sale across Turkey, as well as abroad.

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Ed McLaughlin, MasterCard’s head of Emerging Payments, has some good news for those waiting on NFC-enabled phones for contactless payments.

In an interview with Fast Company, McLaughlin said that he didn’t know of a handset maker who wasn’t working on integrating support for PayPass contactless payments.

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MasterCard and Commonwealth Bank have announced the launch of a QkR, a new mobile app that enables movie theater goers to browse and purchase refreshments from their seats.

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