Tag: near field communications

NFC technology will be central to revenue growth for credit card giants

| March 12, 2013

NFC Technology Major Credit CardsIncome will multiply due to the influence of mobile payments and mcommerce through massive partnerships.

Both Visa and MasterCard have come out with their latest mobile payments strategies, based on NFC technology and other methods that will help consumers to more comfortably and conveniently use their smartphones to pay for their purchases.

These new methods and channels will soon become central to a massive revenue growth for the companies.

All of the largest players in this arena are standing behind NFC technology as a central element of the success of their mobile commerce and payments efforts. This has been further solidified through a large number of partnerships that are being made with these companies, as well as wireless service providers, mobile security companies, and device makers.

It is likely that these deals will allow NFC technology to revolutionize mcommerce.

Though mobile commerce is still quite new, it is already expected that it is ready to be turned on its head once more as NFC technology becomes more commonly implemented into devices and more frequently used by consumers.

Investors are also starting to see the value of these deals that are centered around the successful implementation of NFC technology. From that standpoint, the use of near field communication could be a significant game changer that can result in tremendous revenue increases for credit card companies. Some of the partnerships that have taken place recently include Visa’s deal with Samsung and when MasterCard teamed up with VeriFone Systems.

The NFC technology based mobile payments services will allow devices to be used as a type of mobile wallet. In this sense, consumers can step up to the checkout counter of participating merchants and simply tap their smartphones against a reader device in order to complete a payment transaction. These services can also be applied to coupon redemption and loyalty program points collections, among others.

The goal of the NFC technology wallets is to make shopping far more convenient, so that everything from the points cards to the discount coupons and the payment methods themselves can all be contained in one secure location that many consumers already have.

NFC technology to be used for Wii U payments and in-game purchases

| February 8, 2013

NFC Technology Wii UThe prototypes for the devices that are enabled with these chips are expected to be released this year.

The Wii U GamePad already includes a function that is enabled with NFC technology, but most users aren’t even aware of it, as it is not extensively discussed on any level, except among developers and intense gamers who talk on the internst.

This is because it isn’t yet used for anything, at the moment.

Even Skylanders, which is shipped with its own reader for NFC technology, does not use it for any purpose. That said, even though it is coming to the forefront once again, most of the purposes for its use have not yet been finalized.

When discussing the topic with investors, Satoru Iwata, the CEO, said the NFC technology plans were not yet concrete.

Iwata said that there are two primary branches of ideas being considered by Nintendo for the use of NFC technology. The first is for toys in the style of Skylanders. The second is to be able to read credit cards so that purchases and payments can be made through the Wii U devices.

As a for instance of the first type of use for the NFC technology, Iwata said “For example, we can create cards and figurines with NFC and design our video games to work in conjunction with them.” He also stated that “Also, an increasing number of arcade games are utilizing IC cards which can read and write data in order to record users’ scores and it is possible for Wii U games to connect with them.”

There are a number of different developers who are working with Nintendo on this type of idea. Iwata said that by the end of 2013, it is likely that there will be something more finalized to show for it, and that some more solid examples will become available. As of yet, however, it appears that the company remains in the concept phase.

Other possible uses for NFC technology that have previously been mentioned by Nintendo include payment cards. In theory, this would make it possible to use an e-money card and either wave it over the device or tap it in order to make a mobile payment.