The Paris Metro’s 2013 Navigo transit card may come with a new feature that enables users to top up their card accounts via mobile phone, according to the Verge.

STIF, the organization that runs the Paris Metro, is looking to add NFC functionality to the next-generation Navigo card that would enable commuters to add credit by simply tapping their Navigo against their NFC-enabled handset. 

The Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG) has announced the launch of its new Mobile Payments Report, a market research service that examines the mobile phone as a payments device, financial managing tool, marketing channel and as a method of engaging with consumers.

The report tracks UK consumer usage, penetration, and attitudes towards mobile across more than 50 measures on a quarterly basis. ACG’s report also features consulting support from payments industry practitioners, providing subscribers with the tools to shape, adapt, and prioritize their mobile payments strategy. 

MasterCard introduced a road map focused on advancing the U.S. electronic payments system. The map, which includes the path for migration from magnetic stripe to EMV technology available on chip cards, will serve as the foundation for the next generation of products and services.

As payments evolve to include new devices and new channels, such as mobile and eCommerce, the road map takes steps to address how consumers shop, providing them greater security and control in their payment choices and the potential to integrate loyalty programs and offers into the purchasing experience. 

HID Global has announced the successful completion of the world’s first university pilot of NFC smart phones carrying digital keys.

First announced in September, the pilot involved a select group of students and staff at Arizona State University using NFC-enabled smart phones equipped with HID’s Secure Identity Object (SIO) Technology. Participants could gain access to their residence halls and other secure access areas by tapping their handset against a reader embedded in the door and entering a PIN, rather than use their plastic campus card. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it will hold a workshop on April 26 to examine the use of mobile payments and how this emerging technology impacts consumers.

Open to consumer advocates, industry representatives, government regulators, technologists and academics, the free workshop will examine a range of issues. This includes the technology, business models used in mobile payments, the consumer protection issues raised and the experiences of other nations where mobile payments are more common. 

Ed McLaughlin, MasterCard’s head of Emerging Payments, has some good news for those waiting on NFC-enabled phones for contactless payments.

In an interview with Fast Company, McLaughlin said that he didn’t know of a handset maker who wasn’t working on integrating support for PayPass contactless payments. 

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed that the forthcoming Wii U game controller will feature embedded NFC technology.

According to Iwata, the NFC controller will contain the same contactless standards used in FeliCa and Mifare products, enabling it to interact with a variety of different NFC-tagged objects to enrich the gaming experience.