Tag: near field communication

NFC technology added to a mobile payments solution from Sweden

| April 11, 2013

NFC Technology SwedenThe SEQR service will be using near field communication tech according to the company’s announcement.

An SEQR mobile payments service company based in Stockholm, Seamless, has just announced that its product will now include the use of NFC technology for more transaction options.

The latest predictions from the company say that it will be implementing the contactless tech any day now.

The company has said that the solution is ready and that consumers should expect to start seeing the NFC technology in stores any time now. At the moment, it uses SEQR, which is a method that applies QR codes that are affixed to the terminals at the point of sale in a store. This allows smartphone users to scan the barcodes in order to be able to complete a purchase transaction.

As with the former version of the service, the company’s app is required to use the NFC technology.

In order to make payments using the NFC technology, smartphone users must have an enabled device in which they have downloaded the Seamless app. From there, they can choose to either scan the QR code or they can tap the device to the NFC stickers, which will produce the same results. This action automatically uses funds from the user’s account to pay for the purchase.

Though the QR codes should still be available, the new solution will allow NFC technology stickers to be used instead by devices that are capable of using them. According to the president and CEO of Seamless, Peter Fredell, “This will make us a completely technology-independent option for retailers and users.”

Fredell also pointed out that “It still costs the retailer nothing to introduce SEQR, and no expensive hardware or complicated installation is needed. With the Seamless NFC solution, we have also solved the big security problems that were previously associated with NFC technology.”

The company has stated that its new mobile payments solution has allowed it to become the leading smartphone transaction service in Sweden. It has already been adopted by McDonald’s restaurants as well as by the grocery retailer, Axfood group, which has allowed it to become widespread throughout Sweden. Now, it will be bringing NFC technology to each of these locations, as well.

NFC technology used for mobile payments by Bucharest commuters

| April 8, 2013

Bucharest Public Transit NFC TechnologyMass transit users in Romania will be able to use their smartphones to pay for their passage.

The Bucharest mass transit system in Romania has just announced that, starting this month, it will make it possible for NFC technology enabled smartphones to be used in order to use mobile payments for purchasing travel fare.

This is meant to appeal to the rapidly growing number of smartphone using commuters in the city.

The Bucharest mobile payments announcement came from the system’s operator, Metrorex. The reason that NFC technology enabled smartphone systems will be implemented throughout the service following a successful trial period at seven different stations in the city. The company determined that the popularity of the transactions merited an expansion of the program throughout every station in the city.

Certain wireless service subscribers will have access to the NFC technology and text mobile payments for fares.

Though this may expand in the future, at the moment, Orange and Vodafone wireless carrier subscribers will be able to text a message to a special number that places the fare charge on the smartphone user’s account. That customer is then texted a message as confirmation.

This comes at a time that a service in India’s city of Chennai has also announced that it will be using NFC technology when it opens its rail system in 2015. That system will not be using the text method like the one in Bucharest.

By using the text based mobile payments services, it means that the transactions won’t be available only to individuals who have NFC technology embedded in their devices. This is important as the tech is only currently available in a small percentage of devices. Text opens up the opportunity to the majority of device carriers. This metro service currently has a network of 51 different stations throughout Bucharest.

Every year, the system transports over 170 million passengers, according to the statistics provided by Metrorex. During the pilot for this fare transaction program, there were over 10,000 validations that were reliably and successfully processed. The data regarding the number of expected users for this year or regarding NFC technology transactions has not yet been released.