The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association dedicated to advancing NFC technology, has announced that credit card provider Barclaycard has become a sponsor member.
As a sponsor, Barclaycard will hold a seat on the NFC Forum Board of Directors, the organization’s governing body. According to the NFC Forum, sponsor membership is the highest level of involvement in the organization.
Sponsors may also designate individuals to run for positions as officers of the forum, and each sponsor is entitled to appoint a voting representative to each of the Technical, Marketing, and Compliance Committees and Working Groups.
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking division, has been driving the roll out of contactless payment technology in the UK since 2007. Over 8 million Barclays and Barclaycard customers have contactless cards already, which can be used at more than 25,000 terminals accepting contactless payments across the UK.
Recently, Barclaycard teamed up with mobile operator Orange to launch Quick Tap, the UK’s first NFC-enabled mobile payments system.
The NFC Forum has also welcomed Dentsu Inc., an advertising agency, and Sequent Software, a provider of software for NFC mobile payments, have joined the organization as principal members, the second-highest level of membership.
The NFC Forum also recently added 26 new associate, Implementer, and Non-Profit members from across the NFC ecosystem. A full list is available here. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/nfcnews-4.gif)
