Mobile Payment Magazine

Featured

Consumers and Mobile Financial Services – Free Report

Mobile phones have increasingly become tools that consumers use for banking, payments, budgeting, and shopping. Given the rapid pace of developments in the area of mobile finance, the Federal Reserve Board began conducting annual surveys of consumers’ use of mobile financial services in 2011. This 78-page report, “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services” (March, 2015) examines trends in the adoption and use of mobile banking, payments, and shopping behavior and how the emergence of mobile financial services affects consumers’ interaction with financial institutions.

Mobile Payments Research Report 2011: Battle in a Fragmented Market

by

Research and Markets  has announced the addition of the “Mobile Payments – A Battle of Giants in a Fragmented Market” report to their offering.

This study spotlights the mobile payment market, provides details about the related services and their technological aspects, analyses the usages and the industrial structure with a drawn of the value chain. The report makes an in-depth look in examining several business models – for NFC, SMS, Fixed/mobile wallet & App Stores – their impacts and upcoming opportunities.

Key Questions

  • What are the different mobile payment services and which technologies are being used?
  • Who is using M-payment and how do they use it?
  • How are this emerging market and its value chain structured?
  • What are the existing business models and who is the furthest along with their deployments?
  • What are the market’s key figures and what are the main forces driving development?
  • What does the competition landscape look like?
  • What sustainable opportunities are available to the different kind of players?

Key Topics Covered:

  • 1. Executive Summary
  • 2. Introduction
  • 3. Market structure and key factors
  • 4. Organisation & Industrial Strategy
  • 5. Strategic analysis
  • Tables
  • Figures

Companies Mentioned:

  • Amazon Mobile Payments
  • American Express
  • Apple
  • BarclayCard
  • Billing revolution
  • Boku
  • Carrefour
  • Deutsche Telekom
  • Facebook
  • Gemalto
  • Google
  • McDonald
  • MoBeePay
  • NFC
  • Nokia
  • NTT docomo
  • Obopay
  • Orange
  • PayPal
  • PTC
  • Sprint
  • Starbucks
  • Subway
  • Telecom Italia
  • Telefonica
  • Venmo
  • Verifone
  • Visa
  • Zong

More information: Research and Markets

Wells Fargo to Conduct Mobile Payment Trial in San Francisco

by

Using 200 of its San Francisco staff, the bank will test mobile-phone payments for six months—and may launch a commercial service soon after. Wells Fargo (WFC) is again trying to make mobile payments at restaurants and retailers mainstream, three years after an earlier attempt lost steam. Peter Ho, product manager of card services at the bank, led a test several years ago that let executives use a Nokia phone, rather than a debit or credit card, to pay for fast food and other items. While he liked the convenience, Wells Fargo didn’t end up offering the service to customers, partly because only the one handset was capable of transmitting payment information at the time.

This month, Ho gets another chance as the bank kicks off a mobile-payment trial with 200 employees in San Francisco using a technology that can be inserted into existing phones with microSD cards. To make payments at participating retailers, employees will simply open the Wells Fargo Mobile Banking app, select the pay-with-phone button. and wave the phone in front of special mobile-payment readers.

“We have made an investment in this technology, and we hope this investment pays off,” says Ho, who declined to give the amount of the investment in so-called near-field communications (NFC) technology that uses short-range wireless connections to transfer payment or other information between devices.

via BusinessWeek.

Google Moves Even Stronger Into Mobile Marketing and Payments with Acquisition of Zetawire

by

Back in November, Google’s Eric Schmidt teased the crowd at Web 2.0 about Google’s plans for NFC mobile payments using the Android OS, and introduced the Samsung Nexus S running Gingerbread and an NFC chip by NXP. It turns out that as early as August, according to the 451 Group, a technology industry Analyst company, Google  also had purchased Canadian stealth startup Zetawire, which likely has a product built around a payment, identity management and advertising system, based on Zetawire’s open patent application.

Google is moving quickly into the mobile payment arena, but with Google, it’s a lot more than just payments. The company has also been active around location-based and mobile marketing and advertising with the launch of the more robust Google Places and its new Hotspot service. Now, with Near Field Communication (NFC) coming closer to reality (led by Google’s Android OS Nexus S smartphone), the company is increasingly well-positioned to capitalize on the coming boom in mobile payments:

  • Android smartphones (Nexus S), with built-in Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities
  • Google Places and Hotspot, a fast-growing directory of businesses, along with a Marketing/Advertising platform (remember, Google controls online search results also, which often display Google Places company listings)
  • Mobile marketing
  • Google Checkout

Now covering the spectrum of actions from the search, to the ad or merchant listing, to the click, to the promotion coupon to the payment, Google has a lot of touch-points to profit from, and to track ROI.

While some of Google’s previous efforts to branch out its offering of services have withered (Social Networking, for example), the company caught a huge break while Apple’s iPhone was stuck at ATT by launching the very successful Android OS for a generation of smartphones running on alternate networks such as Verizon’s.  By August of this year, Nielsen reported that new smartphone subscribers choosing Android phones were at 27 percent, surpassing Apple iPhone’s 23% share.

References: TechCrunch; Mashable

Google Places NFC Chip Project Launches in Portland, OR

by

Yelp may be the raconteur of restaurant recommendations and Foursquare the cardinal of check-ins, but Google has an ace up its sleeve: NFC chips. The company’s embedded near-field communications chips into each and every one of these “Recommended on Google Places” window stickers, which you’ll be able to trigger with a shiny new Nexus S — just hold your handset up to the black dot, and voila, your phone gets a “tag.”

Google’s now distributing the signs on a trial basis to Portland, Oregon businesses as part of a larger Google Places kit, though it doesn’t explain how (or if) they’ll be able to program the chips. Either way, if you own a hot new joint in Portland, you might as well give it a spin. Find the sign-up form at our more coverage link, or peep a Nexus S doing its thing after the break.

via Engadget.

INSIDE Contactless Launches SecuRead System Solution for NFC Device Manufacturers

by

INSIDE Contactless, a provider of semiconductor solutions for secure transactions and digital identity, has announced SecuRead, a complete system-in-package (SIP) NFC solution that allows manufacturers of NFC mobile and other devices to integrate all of the contactless, security and application functions required for a broad range of NFC payment, retail, transit, ID and access control applications.

SecuRead integrates INSIDE’s MicroRead NFC controller with a high-performance security controller from Infineon Technologies and a GlobalPlatform-compliant Java Card operating system from Giesecke & Devrient. SecuRead also integrates INSIDE’s Open NFC protocol stack to provide a best-of-breed solution that helps mobile device manufacturers bring rich NFC capabilities to market more quickly.

“Trusted applications like banking and payment demand the highest level of proven security in their hardware and their operating systems, and this is what our secure element brings to the SecuRead SIP solution”

“Unlike other NFC solutions, which must be integrated from multiple hardware and software providers and are less technically robust, SecuRead truly breaks new ground in the NFC market, providing a one-stop-shop, turn-key solution that mobile device makers can use to enable a broad range of NFC applications in their products,” said Loic Hamon, vice president of products and marketing for NFC at INSIDE Contactless.

“SecuRead offers a superior NFC controller, one of the largest capacity and most flexible secure elements on the market and the leading Java Card OS in a single package, with superior software and technical support from a single, global supplier.”

According to Hamon, INSIDE’s SecuRead already has been selected by a leading mobile device manufacturer for use in NFC mobile device products due out in 2011.

“Trusted applications like banking and payment demand the highest level of proven security in their hardware and their operating systems, and this is what our secure element brings to the SecuRead SIP solution,” said Juergen Spaenkuch, director, platform security at Infineon Technologies. “Infineon’s secure element chip dedicated to NFC applications has been certified to the highest proven security certifications and type approvals such as Common Criteria EAL5+ (high) and EMVCo. The chip also offers an optimized interface to the MicroRead NFC controller, thereby enabling INSIDE to create a superior product to meet current and future requirements of the mobile industry.”

SecuRead offers all the functionality of INSIDE’s third-generation MicroRead v3 silicon—plus the secure element and Java Card OS—in a VQFN-32 package, and is pin-for-pin compatible with the standalone MicroRead product. The on-chip Java Card operating system, based on G&D’s Convego® Join 4, includes the implementation of the GlobalPlatform 2.1.1 specifications, supports the full Java Card 3.0.1 API and is compliant with relevant ISO standards as well as EMV for domestic and international mobile payment. The Java Card Operating system supports core AES cryptography for OSPT standards in the transit fare collection market, and a MIFARE-compliant emulation is provided for compatibility for some transit applications.

SecuRead also supports HID iCLASS virtual credentials and is HID Trusted Identity Platform (TIP)-enabled for access control and emerging mobile applications. The secure element features a powerful secure microcontroller with multitasking capability that stores both code and data in a 144KB non-volatile memory, and is Common Criteria EAL5+ (high) certified and EMVCo approved.

“SecuRead represents another productive partnership with INSIDE Contactless to create an innovative solution for the mobile industry,” said Axel Deininger, head of the payments division at G&D. “Our high-performance Java Card solutions, such as the one employed by SecuRead, are tailored to the specific needs of markets with the highest security requirements such as payment, transit, access control and other mobile applications.”

INSIDE’s SecuRead solution is pre-integrated with INSIDE’s Open NFC, a commercial-grade NFC protocol stack that runs on the application or baseband processor to control SecuRead operation. Open NFC version 3.5 software and source code is available at no cost in Android, Windows Mobile, Linux and Java (JSR-257) editions with API documentation on SourceForge.net. INSIDE also offers a comprehensive suite of NFC payment, transit, loyalty, and access control and identity applets to run on SecuRead, including support for HID iCLASS virtual credentials.

“The new SecuRead best-of-breed solution is the fastest path to implementing iCLASS virtual credentials in NFC mobile phones,” said Dr. Tam Hulusi, senior vice president at HID Global. “Through our longstanding partnership with INSIDE, iCLASS support is now a standard feature of SecuRead. For users looking to put iCLASS virtual credentials on mobile phones, this is great news.”

Source: Business Wire

Android Gingerbread NFC is Only One-Way Communication

by

It turns out that the NFC capabilities in Android Gingerbread phones isn’t quite everything we thought it would be. According to a blog post by Jaroslav Stekl on the website Android Police, the NFC with Gingerbread is currently only one-way. It can read data, but not transmit. He adds that the chip supports two-way communication, but Gingerbread does not.

Clearly there’s some extra hype surrounding the  Google CEO’s Eric Schmidt’s mention of Gingerbread and NFC during the Web 2.0 Summit, which came around the same time as ATT, T-Mobile, and Verizon’s official announcement about their partnership in the Isis Mobile Payment Network. [Read more…]

NFC Insert for Mobile Payment Introduced by On Track Innovations

by

On Track Innovations has introduced their new mobile payment system which enables existing mobile phones to support Near Field Communication (NFC) functionality and contactless payments.

The company’s Contactless Payment and NFC Insert (COPNI)  is an add-on to mobile phones’ SIM cards with a flexible antenna. The mobile payment system is independent of the handset type and model, and lets users have one device that is both a mobile phone and a mobile wallet. It is compatible with carriers’ current infrastructure. Mobile phones equipped with COPNI can be used in a broad range of payment applications simply by tapping the phone near a contactless reader. Payments are automatically confirmed and deducted from consumers’ bank accounts, credit cards or pre-paid accounts.

“OTI’s new mobile payment system will allow consumers to easily add NFC functionality to their current mobile phone,” said Oded Bashan, chairman and CEO, OTI. “Our patented technology provides mobile operators and financial institutions/issuers with a quick-to-market NFC solution using the existing infrastructure. It offers them a way to get into the mobile payment market while expanding their customer base and generating increased revenues.”

COPNI supports existing contactless payment applications from major card associations, mass transit ticketing (with MIFARE support) as well as loyalty programs and other proprietary programs. According to the company, potential applications include:

  • Mass transit ticketing – instead of presenting cash or swiping a card at the turnstile, consumers just tap their phone near a contactless reader to proceed through the turnstile
  • Information retrieval – gives consumers the ability to view the current balance of their mobile wallet, and also allows their mobile handsets to receive and instantly download information from their surroundings (retail store, museum, etc.)
  • E-coupons – coupons downloaded to their wireless phone can be redeemed in retail stores at checkout

Source: GlobeNewsWire

Montise Joins with Software Developer ViVOtech for Mobile Phone Payment Solutions for Banks

by

NFC-enabled Nokia 6212 - contactless transaction. Image from ViVOtech.

Monitise, a provider of mobile money solutions, has joined forces with near field communication (NFC) software developer ViVOtech, to deliver mobile phone payments services to banks across the United States. The partnership means customers of participating banks will be able to turn their handset into a mobile wallet (linked to registered bank accounts, credit and debit cards) and purchase items using contactless payments at merchants with NFC capabilities.

In addition to contactless payments, service users will be able to transfer money from their registered accounts to other bank accounts, perhaps in response to an overdraft alert or to friends and family. The service will also deliver retail coupons and discounts directly to the user on their mobile phone. [Read more…]

Samsung Announces New NFC Chip with Flash Memory

by

Samsung has announced a new NFC chip with flash memory, adding to the momentum around Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that will enable point-of-sale payments via mobile phone.

NFC is a short-range (up to 10cm or 4inches), high frequency wireless communication technology which allows devices such as smart phones to collect or transmit data to another NFC-enabled device without manual configuration to identify devices. In addition, NFC chip can play a role as a contactless smartcard in use for public transportation payments for bus and subway fares and mobile banking payments. It can also read RFID tags in retail stores or on outdoor billboards for convenient on-the-spot data access.

The announcement comes at about the same time as Google announced the Samsung-made Nexus S — the first phone to use the new Android OS called Gingerbread. The camera comes with built-in NFC technology, as well as a front and rear-facing camera to enable video conferencing.

“NFC is recognized throughout the industry as an easy and effective way to transmit encrypted information between mobile devices or between mobile devices and other stationary NFC-enabled devices such as kiosks,” said Tae-Hoon Kim, vice president of DDI and C&M marketing, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. “As momentum builds for adoption of NFC technology in next-generation/ upcoming smart phones, we look forward to securing a competitive footing in NFC-based solutions with our new NFC technology, offering powerful mobile characteristics such as low power design and advanced RF sensitivity.”

The Samsung NFC chip will be ready for mass production in Q1 2011.

Samsung is well established in releasing Android smartphones, and with Android smartphones now holding a 23% market share, Samsung seems well positioned to ride the wave toward NFC mobile payments.