Near Field Communications Handsets and Tags, NFC Pilots and Projects

NFC shopping pilot underway in Zurich

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

NEXPERTS, e24, the University of Applied Science from Northwest Switzerland and other industrial partners are launching a pilot project this month in Zurich that will enable customers to use their NFC phones to purchase goods and services at farmer shops.

The project, called “Touch’n Pay,” is intended to ease the shopping process in farmer shops, which are typically small, independent stores lacking a point of sale terminal infrastructure. The 80 customers participating in the pilot will be able to get information on a particular item by simply touching the price tag with their phones. A shopping basket application on the phone then sums up all articles and by a tapping the “checkout” tag, the electronic payment process will be initiated.


NFC enabled customers can also access to the farmer’s shop around the clock by opening the door-lock cylinder with a touch by their mobile phone.

The results from the project will be collected and analyzed by the University of Applied Sciences from Northwest Switzerland for future large scale deployments. [end] 

Discount code website www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk just conducted a flash poll that found 72% of Brits in favor of contactless technology in all supermarket stores.

The poll, which drew 1,052 participants, was conducted in reaction to (The Co-operative Food’s recent decision to launch a contactless payment pilot in 100 of its stores)[http://www.contactlessnews.com/2010/07/14/uk-grocery-chain-rolls-out-contactless-payment-trial], as well as the site’s recent online affiliation with several of the UK’s largest supermarket chains.

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The Co-operative Food is partnering with Barclaycard to become the UK’s first major grocery retailer to introduce contactless payment in its stores nationwide. The roll-out will begin next year with a pilot in 100 Co-op stores, allowing customers to speed through checkout lines with tap & go purchases of £15 or less.

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MasterCard’s stock dropped 3.6% on the recent announcement Verizon and AT&T are partnering with Discover and Barclays to launch mobile contactless payment services, but the company says it has its own ventures in diversified payments.

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Netsize has released a new report finding that a majority of survey respondents would use their mobiles to buy big-ticket items.

“Unlocking the Value of Mobile Commerce” includes research on the value amounts that people are ready for and willing to pay through their mobile phone for pricey items that go beyond the usual mix of transport tickets and parking tokens, according to Netsize.

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Dublin-based AIB Merchant Services (AIBMS) has announced the launch of its new customizable loyalty program for small to medium-sized businesses, according to siliconrepublic.com.

The new solution, AIBMS loyaltyplus, uses contactless tags from ZapaTechnology that combine multiple loyalty cards onto one single device accepted at AIBMS point of sale terminals.

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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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