Commbank to launch Kaching app on Android without NFC – for now
30 May, 2012
category: NFC
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia says it will release an Android version of its Kaching mobile payments app within six weeks – albeit without NFC, according to ZDNet.
Andy Lark, chief marketing officer of Commbank, told ZDNet Australia that the Android version of Kaching will not leverage embedded NFC technology because Google and other device manufacturers have not been able to keep up with the bank’s proposed release timetable.
“Our challenge on Android, frankly, has been [that] we’ve been waiting for NFC clarity from Google,” said Lark. “We haven’t got it, so we’ve made a decision to go ahead and get Kaching out there with some other features that we think people will love.”
Available on the iPhone since October 2011, Kaching enables Commbank customers to transfer funds to other users via email, Facebook, or by selecting their contact info in their phone’s address book. With the addition of an NFC-enabled iCarte case, Kaching allows iPhone users to make payments at the point of sale as they would with a contactless credit or debit card.
Several Android handsets, such as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, already have NFC hardware built-in, but Commbank needs permission to access the chip from device manufacturers before it can enable NFC payments in the app, according to ZDNet.
Nonetheless, Lark says that Commbank is still committed to NFC, and will unlock the feature on the Android Kaching app as soon as possible after the app’s release.
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