Near Field Communications Handsets and Tags, NFC Pilots and Projects

Phone's camera can hasten POS transactions

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Efici Corp., a Miami-based technology company serving the telecommunications and banking industries, has launched EfiCash, a product that uses a cell phone’s built-in camera to speed up transactions. The system has also been billed as an NFC alternative for the mobile payments platform.


Rather than waiting for NFC to be commercially available, EfiCash participants can use phones with integrated cameras to interpret 2D codes and expedite payments by minimizing keystrokes. Today, the company estimates, more than half of existing phones in the U.S. have cameras.

“If you already have that infrastructure in place, why not leverage it to enable mobile transactions with a low cost of entry for everyone?” asks Efici’s CEO Andres Gonzalez.

The application is based on a prepaid model that securely enables consumers to make and receive payments by linking their debit, credit card and bank accounts. EfiCash has been designed to support multiple languages, currencies and types of accounts. [end] 

MarketsandMarkets has released a new report predicting that the value of mobile payment transactions in the US will reach $56 billion in 2015.

According to the report, “Mobile Payment - Advanced Technologies (NFC), Strategies And Future Of Remote & Proximity Payment In US,” the market for NFC mobile payment in the US is currently in its infancy, with an adoption rate of only 1.7%.

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Silicon Valley-based Cimbal has announced the public launch of its software-based NFC payment network. The network, which the company claims is the first of its kind in the world, enables secure payment and peer-to-peer transactions using a smart phone instead of a plastic card.

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Despite recent moves into mobile payment by giants such as Bank of America and Visa, US merchants may be hesitant to adopt the new technology, according to analysts at Reuters.

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Black Diamond Advanced Technology ha a new, rugged and mobile identity management system capable of multimodal biometric collection. Called BioTRAC, it features multiple fingerprint sensors as well as a multifunction camera with barcode reading capabilities and a dual iris camera system. The camera, developed by Iritech, can capture two irises in less than five seconds.

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The STAR Network announced the release of STAR CertiFlash, a new PIN debit application designed to improve point-of-sale security using one-time card number technology. When programmed onto a contactless payment device, STAR CertiFlash encrypts each individual transaction, transmitting a card number that is good for only a single use.

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Canadian Retail Solutions (CRS) and YESpay International have partnered to deliver EMV chip and PIN managed card payment service to Canadian customers. YESpay’s EMBOSS is an EMV chip and PIN accredited and PCI-DSS Level 1 certified managed payment service.

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