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] 

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 has posted a brief interview with Ed McLaughlin, the company’s Chief Emerging Payments Officer, concerning Isis, mobile payments, and the future of MasterCard in the field.

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Visa and Imperial Parking Canada Corp. (Impark) are teaming up to offer Visa payWave contactless payments to 72 of its attended parking facilities across Canada.

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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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CARTES in North America, a new annual card manufacturing, payment, identification and digital security expo and conference, has placed mobile payments at the center of its agenda of this year’s inaugural event.

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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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