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

Interest in contactless payments growing

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Financial institutions are interested in issuing contactless card, but obstacles remain, says Bruce Cundiff, an analyst who studies contactless cards at Javelin Strategy and Research in Pleasanton, Calif. Though he foresees a shift toward acceptance of such payments in the next four to five years, barriers remain, including lack of interest in the merchant population, he said.

Interest in contactless credit cards or mobile payments more than doubled from last year, with 12% of banks calling it the biggest untapped growth opportunity, up from 5% in 2007. [end] 

Superdrug, one of Britain’s largest beauty and health retailers, has introduced contactless payment for its in-store customers, according to Retail Gazette.

Created by Streamline and Visa Europe, the contactless system will enable customers to make payments of up to £15 (approx. USD $23) by simply waving their contactless bank card at the more than 50 participating Superdrug stores in London and Liverpool.

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Proxama has announced a partnership with semiconductor supplier ARM Holdings to create secure payment mechanisms for mobile handsets.

The UK-based partners say they will combine ARM’s TrustZone technology with Proxama’s Mobile Wallet to develop a “highly secure” environment for NFC-enabled mobile contactless payments and mobile internet payments.

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Datacard Group, a provider of secure ID and card personalization solutions, has announced an equity investment and strategic partnership with DeviceFidelity, makers of the In2Pay mobile payments solution.

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The European Payments Council (EPC) has published the second edition of its “White Paper on Mobile Payments.”

According to EPC, the white paper focuses on the usage of the mobile payments in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and explores how m-payment services can be delivered through cooperation between service providers in the payment industry and players within the mobile ecosystem.

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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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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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