Tag: nfc mobile

Far EasTone has just announced its intentions to begin a pilot program for smartphone transactions.

The third largest telecom company in Taiwan, Far EasTone Telecommunications, has just announced that it intends to use NFC technology as a part of the trial mobile payments project that it is launching in the country in the second half of the year.

The first phase of the project will be starting within the third quarter of 2013.

That phase will work in partnership with both Far Eastern International Bank, and the second largest credit card company network in the world, MasterCard Inc. This, according to the president of the company, Yvonne Li.

The second phase of the NFC technology based payments pilot will start in the last quarter of the year.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, Li explained that the project will expand its mobile payments reach by working with a larger number of local banks, and will broaden its credit card partnership so that it will also include Visa Inc.’s network. This was announced by Li at the general meeting of shareholders for Far EasTone.

The NFC technology pilot project will begin by targeting mobile payments for purchases that are smaller than approximately $100 (NT$3,000). This is due to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) requirements to which the organization must adhere. The FSC is the top financial watchdog for Taiwan.

Li has already explained that the NFC technology mobile payments will “begin with our group’s banks and department stores, while seeking external partners such as fast food chain stores,” however she also said that further details will be held off until a press conference before the end of this month, at which point they will be revealed.

The FSC granted approval to the Far Eastern Group unit, Far Eastern International Bank, back on June 11. This approval included the ability of the company to be able to offer mobile payments using NFC technology over smartphones that are equipped with that tech. This makes Far EasTone the second entrant into the mobile payments ecosystem in Taiwan, after the largest mobile provider in the company, Chunghwa.

Seamless, a company from Sweden, has brought the new mobile payments tech to the country.

Swedish mobile payments firm, Seamless, has just partnered with Garanti Bank out of Turkey in order to bring a new system to Romania based on QR codes and NFC technology.

This will allow Seamless to launch its SEQR NFC and QR code based payments in the Romanian marketplace.

The Seamless mobile payments system allows users to complete transactions by waving their enabled smartphones over a reader device, or by scanning QR codes. These NFC technology and QR code based options will become available within the next few weeks, according to the companies.

Both QR codes and NFC technology will be offered in order to ensure compatibility with devices.

According to Peter Fredell, the Seamless CEO, the company is offering systems using both NFC technology and QR code scans when taking the first steps into markets. It also stated that it has been running various pilot programs for the last half year in the country. Fredell also used the word “interesting” to describe the Romanian market, and that it was the Garanti Bank that approached them about entering into the market in Romania for the first time.

At the moment, Romanians don’t use credit cards very heavily. In fact, 79 percent of transactions are currently made in cash. The belief, said Fredell, is that this indicates that there is far greater potential for NFC technology mobile payments in this type of market than there is in Western European countries where there is a much higher use of credit cards. He also stated that it is the banks that are introducing the cashless systems and that are among the primary drivers of this type of change This will help to decrease the cash handling costs within the country, should it be as successful as they hope.

Seamless is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweeden, and is a global mobile payments company. It currently operates in over 30 countries worldwide. This organization focuses on mobile payments and prepaid top-up services for distributors, mobile operators, consumers, and retailers. It will be offering its services with Garanti Bank through NFC technology in Romania for the first time.