Near Field Communications Handsets and Tags, NFC Pilots and Projects

A sampling of NFC pilots from around the world

Thursday, May 31, 2007


With trials occurring at a fevered pace, NFC is being tested for real world use

USA: Cellular South and Kyocera Wireless conduct NFC payment trial of “Wireless Wallet” with consumers in Memphis, TN and Jackson, MS. End date: August 2007.

The Netherlands: Roda Stadium trials NFC phones for football ticketing and payment with KPN, Philips, Bell ID, SmartPoint. Dates: Aug 2005-May 2006

Taiwan: MasterCard, Taipei Fubon Bank, Taiwan Mobile, and Vivotech deploy NFC pilot in Taiwan for payment and couponing via smart posters. Start date: February 2007.


USA: Citi, MasterCard, Cingular, and Nokia conduct NFC payment trial using phones with PayPass in New York City. Start date: January 2007.

Austria: University of Applied Sciences of Upper Austria conducted a trial of 100 students and staff using NFC phones for payment at vending machines, peer to peer transfer, and access. Start date: November 2006.

Malaysia: Visa, Maybank, Maxis and Nokia trial Visa Wave payments with 200 participants. Dates: April 2006 - Aug 2006

Germany: Nokia, Philips, Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund trial NFC ticketing for public transport in Hanau/Frankfurt. Start date: April 2005

USA: Visa tests delivery of coupons and rewards to NFC-equipped phones with 500 of its employees in California. Start date: November 2006.

France: City of Caen trials NFC for payment, parking, tourist / transit information via smart posters. Participants include Philips, France Telecom, Orange, Samsung, Groupe LaSer and Vinci Park (retailers). Dates: Oct 2005-May 2006

France: Grenoble trial sees participants pay fares for public transport. Start date: March 2007.

USA: Philips Arena in Atlanta pilots NFC for payment and poster download with Atlanta Spirit, Chase, Cingular, Nokia, Philips, Visa USA and ViVOtech. Dates: Dec 2005-June 2006

Korea: SKTelecom and Philips trial NFC with 400 SKT employees in Seoul. Applications include access control, smart posters, ringtone download, payment. Start date: June 2006.

USA: Mastercard, Verizon Wireless, and Motorola conducted a trial of NFC phones and PayPass technology in Dallas. Start date: November 2004.

China: China Mobile, Philips, Nokia, and Xiamen e-Tong Card trial NFC payments with 100 participants in the city of Xiamen. Start date: July 2006.

United Kingdom: Manchester City Football Club trials NFC for stadium ticketing and payment. Start: August 2006.

France: Strasbourg trial demonstrates contactless EMV transactions via mobile phones with Groupe Crédit Mutuel, CIC, NRJ Mobile, MasterCard PayPass, and Inside Contactless. Start date: November 2006.

The Netherlands: In Amsterdam, JCB trials NFC payments with 100 participants. Start date: September 2006

France: The Paris Metro, Inside Contactless, and Bouygues Telecom enable pilot participants to use an NFC phone to pay fares as a complement to the contactless Navigo card. Start date: April 2006. [end] 

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has begun piloting NFC-enabled mobile payments on the Long Island Rail Road, according to SmartPlanet.

The system, which enables riders to pay for fares with the tap of an NFC smart phone, is being tested by railroad employees equipped with Nokia phones. Later this spring 100 riders will be given NFC-enabled smart phones in a consumer trial.

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The state of Georgia has enlisted the help of LexisNexis to start a pilot program that utilizes identity verification and authentication tools to combatting tax fraud, reports Accounting Today.

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Calgary, Alberta is pushing forward with the anticipated summer launch of a new smart card payment system for public transit, according to the Calgary Herald.

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New Jersey Transit’s use of NFC payments with Google Wallet has been an “overwhelming and resounding success,” according to NJ Transit spokesman John Durson.

Introduced on the NJ Transit network in October 2011, Google Wallet enables riders to purchase tickets with the tap of an NFC-enabled phone at New York Penn Station, Newark Liberty Airport’s rail station and on 7 city bus lines.

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The Indian government has started piloting biometric data capture for visa applications as part of its Immigration, Visa, Foreigner’s Registration and Tracking (IVFRT) project, reports The Indian Express.

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PATCO, the high speed rail line that runs between Philadelphia and Camden County, N.J., is preparing to shift into Phase Two of its open payment trial.

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