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

MasterCard Canada experiments with NFC

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

In a major step toward bringing contactless payments via mobile phones to the Canadian market, MasterCard Canada will test NFC-enabled phones with MasterCard PayPass capability on Bell Mobility’s wireless network. The four-month closed trial will test secure over-the-air (OTA) provisioning of payment card credentials and the security of transactions made using mobile phones.

During the trial, PayPass-enabled phones will be used to make purchases at any merchant location in Canada that accepts MasterCard PayPass, by tapping the phone against a point-of-sale payment terminal.


The security being tested is multi-level. The PayPass payment application is stored inside the mobile phone’s built-in secure area. Users have individual control of the payment application in the phone’s secure area, and the payment application can also be password protected so that a lost or stolen handset cannot be used to make payments.

Additionally, the PayPass system itself is supported by multi-level security protections including the encryption of PayPass RF transaction transmission and the security protections of the MasterCard payment system. [end] 

MasterCard’s PayPass contactless payment feature may soon be presented to the Azerbaijan market of cashless payments.

According to a recent MasterCard study, 75% of the local residents said they would like to use contactless payment cards in supermarkets and 60% to pay public transport fare. When asked which devices, in addition to a plastic card, it would be convenient to make payments, 86% of respondents said they would like to use their mobile phone.

read more »

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and mobile operator Rogers Communications are partnering to launch Canada’s first joint mobile payment solution, allowing Canadians to pay with their CIBC credit card at the point-of-sale using NFC-enabled smart phones.

read more »

MasterCard has announced PayPass Wallet Services, a new global offering for banks, merchants and partners that will enable customers to make purchases in stores or online using a smart phone or tablet.

read more »

Canadians may be paying for items with the tap of an NFC-enabled phone by the end of 2012.

According to Reuters, Canadian banks, credit card companies and telecoms are reaching an agreement on an NFC payment service that will capitalize on Canada’s robust contactless infrastructure.

read more »

Singapore, Canada, the United States, Kenya and South Korea have topped MasterCard’s newly released Mobile Payments Readiness Index (MPRI), an analysis of 34 countries and their readiness to use three types of mobile payments: person to person, mobile Web commerce and NFC-enabled mobile contactless payments at the point of sale.

read more »

MasterCard Advisors announced the results of the MasterCard Advisors PayPass Adoption Study, providing a quantitative analysis of the changes in U.S. account transaction behavior after adopting a contactless payments solution.

read more »