Mobile Payment Magazine

Visa Certifies Samsung, LG and Blackberry Smartphones as Visa payWave Mobile Payment Devices

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Visa payWave

Visa Inc. and Visa Europe today announced that NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Research In Motion (RIM) have been certified for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave.

The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry  Bold  9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry  Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.

All the new devices certified by Visa host the Visa payWave application on a secure SIM card and feature NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the short range communications standard that enables mobile phones to securely transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal.

“This is an important step for Visa, its financial institution partners and the mobile industry,” said Bill Gajda, Global Head of Mobile Product, Visa Inc. “In addition to issuing plastic magnetic stripe or chip-enabled payment cards, financial institutions can now consider offering their account-holders a way to transform their smartphones into fully functional mobile payment devices.”

Visa’s certification of these smartphones paves the way for mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators and retailers to partner with financial institutions to offer Visa mobile payment functionality to consumers globally.

Visa’s Certification Process

Visa has played a leadership role in establishing global standards for mobile payments, making sure that they are aligned with existing technology and security standards for chip payment cards and can easily be integrated into the existing payments ecosystem. For example: Visa payWave on mobile devices is compatible with existing contactless (NFC) payment terminals already installed at retail outlets worldwide, enabling Visa accountholders to simply wave their enabled phone in front of a payment terminal in order to pay.

Visa has a compliance testing process for both mobile devices and the secure elements that host the Visa payWave mobile application. The process includes extensive technical and usability testing with respect to the Visa mobile payment functionality. This helps to ensure reliable and secure Visa transactions which are compatible with the global standard for chip-enabled payments, and establishes a required signal range for all mobile (NFC-enabled) Visa payment devices. Visa’s compliance testing process helps to ensure the combination of the phone; secure chip and Visa’s mobile payment application will provide the level of security and user experience Visa accountholders have come to expect from Visa.

“Today’s announcement is another example of the momentum we are seeing behind NFC as an industry standard for mobile payments,” said Nick Holland, senior analyst Yankee Group. “Yankee Group predicts that the value of NFC-based transactions will grow significantly, from $27 million in 2010 to $40 billion in 2014.”

Source: Business Wire

Collective POS Launches Mobile Payment Solution for Apple, Blackberry and Android Smartphone Devices

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Collective Point of Sale Solutions, a Canadian provider of payment processing services, has launched VirtualMerchant Mobile, a mobile P.O.S solution that allows small and medium-sized businesses to process credit card payments using an existing smartphone device.

“We worked very hard to deliver a payment solution that enables businesses to utilize their existing hardware, technical infrastructures and communications providers,” said Michael Back, CEO and President of Collective POS. “With this product, merchants can turn any iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android or Blackberry device into a secure, affordable point of sale terminal.”

To set up, merchants who have been approved for credit card processing download an application from the relevant app store and enter the account information provided to them by Collective POS.

VirtualMerchant Mobile includes both hardware and software features to ensure complete end-to-end transaction security. To protect merchants and cardholders, no payment information is stored on the mobile device. At the time of swipe, card data is encrypted through the provided card encryption sleeve and immediately sent to a firewall-protected, secure hosting environment.

“This solution is perfect for taxi and livery services, companies that offer delivery, participate in trade shows or flea markets, home-based businesses and any other business that wishes to accept credit cards on the go,” said Michael Back.

In addition to portability and information security, VirtualMerchant Mobile offers the reliability that is synonymous with all Collective POS offerings, making it an ideal solution for any on-the-go business or service.

Collective POS serves more than 10,000 businesses across Canada, including retail stores, restaurants, hospitality providers, mobile services, e-commerce merchants, mail order/telephone order businesses, professional firms/clinics/practitioners, B2B product/service providers, tradespeople and many other industries.

Source: Collective Point of Sale Solutions, Ltd.

ING Direct Launches Mobile Banking App for BlackBerry PlayBook

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ING Direct Canada has announced the launch of a BlackBerry PlayBook App to its suite of mobile banking applications. According to the company, ING Direct was the first bank in Canada to offer a BlackBerry App, iPhone App and mobile website simultaneously last year, and has since added iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7 Apps.

The company’s new PlayBook App, released today, will let Canadian consumers bank from their BlackBerry PlayBook devices. The App allows clients to check their account balances, review transactions, transfer funds, buy and sell The Streetwise Funds, and get directions and hours of operation for the ING Direct Cafés.

“We know that mobile banking today represents what the ABM did in the 1980’s – the future of banking,” said Peter Aceto, President and CEO of ING Direct. “Mobile banking Apps give people the ability to have their own personal branch in their pocket. This is the future of banking and our PlayBook App is another example of ING DIRECT leading the industry in mobile banking and helping Canadians stay closer to their money, something we’ve been advocating for 14 years.”

Source: ING Direct

U Mobile Offers Blackberry Solution in Malaysia

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U Mobile and Research In Motion (RIM) have launched a Blackberry solution for U Mobile customers in Malaysia, that brings together smartphones, software and services to allow wireless access to email and messaging, social networking, phone, organizer, web, multimedia and other mobile business and lifestyle applications.

U Mobile will initially offer the BlackBerry  Bold 9780 smartphone and the BlackBerry  Curve 3G smartphone to customers in Malaysia.

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a compact smartphone that offers a compelling blend of features, performance and design. Featuring the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 supports 3G networks around the world, as well as Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging. The 5 MP camera comes with a full complement of high-end features including continuous auto focus, scene modes, image stabilization, flash and video recording. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 also includes 512 MB Flash memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB of storage.

The BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone features a comfortable full-QWERTY keyboard for fast, accurate typing, optical trackpad for fluid navigation, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi and dedicated media keys that allow music lovers to easily play their tunes while on the go. The BlackBerry Curve 3G also features a camera that can record video and a microSD/SDHC slot that supports up to 32 GB memory cards for media storage. Support for 3G networks makes browsing faster, streaming music smoother, and gives users the ability to talk on the phone while they browse the web or instant message with BBM (BlackBerry Messenger).

Chief Executive Officer of U Mobile Sdn Bhd, Dr Kaizad Heerjee said: “We are very pleased to have a long-term partnership with RIM to introduce the BlackBerry solution to our customers in Malaysia. BlackBerry smartphones will allow our customers to easily stay in touch with the people and information that’s important to them and access information quickly and efficiently no matter where they are through our enhanced 3G high speed network”. He added: “We also look forward to continuously unveiling new and exciting products which are focused at delivering simple, flexible and affordable plans to the market.”

Source: U Mobile

Report Shows Majority of Top 100 Financial Institutions Offer Mobile Banking

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2010 Mobile Banking ReportA recent report covering mobile banking reveals that over half of the Top 100 financial institutions offer mobile banking services as of September 2010.

Surprisingly, this activity is not concentrated among the Top 25 or even Top 50, with many smaller banks actively utilizing vendor capabilities to offer mobile solutions.  Of the Top 100, nearly 40% offer access via mobile web, while 32% offer SMS banking and/or alerts and 32% offer apps.

Apple’s iOS remains the main platform for launching application-based banking, but financial institutions have realized the importance of other operating system leaders.  Sixteen percent and fourteen percent now offer a RIM Blackberry or Google Android application, respectively.

A detailed evaluation of features available by channel also reveals that mobile web and app channels often provide virtually the same capabilities.  Balance inquiries and transaction history are standard, but new features help banks differentiate themselves from competition.  Seventeen percent offer GPS-enabled branch/ATM locators, and thirty-five percent allow mobile billpay (most require pre-entered payees, but not all).

Additionally, several banks are expanding their offerings to include mobile deposit capture, P2P, offers and loyalty programs, and rewards management and redemption.

The  study, released by First Annapolis, covers  mobile banking and payments capability and activity among the Top 100 U.S. financial institutions (ranked by deposits).  The report is the first data-intensive study of its kind and provides unique insights into how banks currently leverage mobile as a new channel to reach consumers.

Source: First Annapolis

U.S. Mobile Payment Market to Top $200 Billion by 2015, Says Research Report

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A recent report from Aite Group forecasts that U.S. mobile bill payments will reach more than $200  billion in 2015.

Aite Group interviewed more than 60 companies in the Fall of 2010 and produced a 65 page report that defines and segments the mobile payment industry, and includes an analysis of the competitive and market trends.

Each one of the multiple categories of mobile payments defined in the report will experience double-digit growth, with mobile payments accounting for  US$214 billion in gross dollar volume by 2015, up from US$16 billion in 2010–a 68% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2010 and 2015.

The report references the following companies: Allstate, Amazon, American Express, Apple, AT&T, Bango, Bank of America, Barclays, Bill2Mobile, BlackBerry, Bling Nation, BOKU, Brink’s, C-Sam, Cashedge, Cellfire, Chase, Chase Paymentech, Cimbal, ClairMail, coupons.com, Coupons Sherpa, Visa’s Cybersource, Device Fidelity, Diebold, Discover, Eagle Eye Solutions, eBay, Euronet, Facebook, First Data, FIS, Fiserv, Foursquare, Gemalto, Global Payments, Google, Gowalla, Green Dot, Groupon, Harland Financial Services, Heartland Payment Systems, Hipcricket, iLoop Mobile, Inside Contactless, Intuit, Jack Henry/iPay Technologies, Kubra, MasterCard, mFoundry, Mobile Coupons, Mocapay, MoneyGram, Monitise Group, mopay, MyWebGrocer, NCR, NetSpend, Nokia, Oberthur Technologies, Obopay, OfferIQ, Online Resources, PayPal, Plastyc, Pyxis Mobile, Research-in-Motion (RIM), Roam Data (Ingenico), Roamware, Rocketbuxx, SK C&C USA, Square, Starbucks, Sybase, T-Mobile, Tetherball, 3i Infotech, Tier Technologies, TransferTo, TSYS, Twitter, U.S. Bank, VeriFone, Verizon, Vesta, Visa, ViVOtech, Waspit, Way Systems, Western Union, Wincor Nixdorf, WirelessLoyalty, Xipwire, Yelp, and Zong.

More information: Aite Group Mobile Payment Report.

Source: Aite Group