Gemalto is adding SIM-based NFC technology to Japan credit card provider JCB’s J/Speedy contactless payment solution. The move is designed to add enhanced user experience, improved branding and greater market penetration, allowing banks to be better equipped to respond to market demands regardless of contactless standard or form factor used.

Motorola announced that it has made an equity investment in ViVOtech. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Unlike other contactless technology offerings available on the mobile application market today, ViVOtech’s platform is designed for easy collaboration among issuers, mobile operators and technology providers to deliver the most intuitive and integrated consumer experience across a range of new customer services.”

Rapid Growth in Membership Shows Momentum for Near Field Communication

WAKEFIELD, Mass.–The NFC Forum (http://www.nfc-forum.org), a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, today announced its newest Sponsor member: NTT DoCoMo, Inc.

Joining as a Principal member is BlueChip Technologies S.A. Associate members who have joined recently are: Alcatel-Lucent, Artimi, Inc., Brother Industries, Ltd., NTT Data Corporation, Sagem Orga GmbH, Siemens AG, STMicroelectronics, TUV SUD AG and USA Technologies, Inc.

NFC Forum Member Companies Innovision R&T, Mastercard International, NEXPERTS, Nokia, NXP, StoLPaN, Toppan Forms and USA Technologies are demonstrating NFC applications at the NFC Zone at Cartes 2007. According to research firm Frost & Sullivan, one third of all mobile phones will be NFC-equipped in a span of three to five years. In fact, at this very moment, consumers are using NFC technology on their mobile phones to make contactless payments in commercial roll outs in Germany and Austria and in trials in London, Singapore, the Netherlands, Finland, and New York, among others. Demonstrations will include NFC mobile payments, ticketing and facilities access, personalized advertising, connectivity between electronic devices and more.

At CARTES today, VeriFone announced their newest contactless peripheral, the QX120–a contactless payment solution that supports all major contactless payment schemes, including those initiated from mobile phones using the emerging Near Field Communications standard. The ultra thin QX120 can be easily connected to a stand alone payment device or integrated POS system to provide contactless acceptance capability. The QX120 is designed to appeal to retailers and consumers alike, with a high-contrast white backlit LCD that displays the transaction amount and other messages to consumers.

Since May 2007, LEGIC has been involved in a joint NFC pilot project with Swisscom and Selecta. An NFC-enabled mobile telephone and the embedded LEGIC solution make payments at Selecta vending machines child’s play: easy, safe, and contactless. LEGIC is pursuing new directions with its card-in-card solutions. In the form of a virtual card, LEGIC functionality will be applied to dual interface cards or third party NFC mobile phones via the new software solution for smart card platforms.

At the end of November 2007, six major banks, four mobile phone operators, Visa Europe and MasterCard Worldwide will be launching the “Pay by Mobile” operation, an experimental contactless payment system. 1000 test customers will be given mobile phones with INSIDE Contactless’s MicroRead NFC component. Learn more about the trial program.

Lack of consumer awareness regarding contactless transaction technology ranks as a leading concern among retailers and may ultimately impede development of contactless payments based on mobile phones, research released this week indicates. A major problem cited was that most merchants that have adopted contactless programs don’t promote the programs to their customers. The research was conducted by Aberdeen Group, and concluded that retailers, not banks and card networks, must shoulder more or the marketing and information burden. Merchants point to near-field communication (NFC) as the next step in their contactless strategies. But that leads to one more problem, nearly one-third of the surveyed merchants that had done the most effective work with contactless are still not aware of NFC.  

Six major French banks as well as four mobile operators join forces in cooperation with MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Europe to launch a large-scale trial of mobile contactless payments with 1,000 customers and 200 stores located in the cities of Caen and Strasbourg at the end of November. This new multi-operator payment service aims to simplify proximity payments as well as offer customers a fast, practical and safe way to handle their everyday transactions.

Two prominent organizations from the care and technology sectors, WELbeing and Over-C, are teaming up to revamp the management of home care services through the launch of CarePro, a system based on Nokia near field communication (NFC) technology which helps field workers perform their jobs more efficiently. CarePro is designed so home-based care services can manage their domiciliary care staff and offer better assistance to clients. Providing real time management facilities, CarePro uses the latest technology in a format that’s affordable and easy to use. Thanks to the system, care workers can provide digital proof of the duration and type of care provided to each client, eliminating time-consuming, paper-based reporting – so they can focus on people rather than paperwork.

Watch NFC in action at the Over-C website.