Category: NFC Technology

German companies are working together to promote mobile commerce throughout the market

NFC-based mobile payments are receiving more attention in Germany. The country’s retailers and mobile carriers are beginning to promote NFC technology as a way to participate in mobile commerce. A growing number of consumers have been demanding new mobile services that allow them to purchase products with their mobile devices. Many of these services are based on NFC technology, but relatively few German companies have embraced this technology in order to engage mobile consumers.

2,000 NFC-enabled payment terminals to be deployed in Germany

Vodafone Germany, Deutsche Telekom, and Telefonica are working with six major retailers throughout Germany to introduce new mobile point-of-sale terminals. Some 2,000 of these terminals are being provided to retailers in Germany. These terminals are equipped with NFC technology that will allow them to accept transactions being made from mobile devices. In order for these transactions to be conducted, however, the devices themselves will also have to make use of NFC technology.

NFC technology continues to play a major role in the mobile payments space

NFC-enabled mobile devices had been rare in the past, but these devices are now quite common throughout several prominent markets. NFC technology currently makes up the majority of the mobile payments infrastructure, and devices that are equipped with the technology have little trouble participating in the mobile commerce space. Retailers have been somewhat slow to embrace the technology, however, due to the costs associated with purchasing and upgrading existing point-of-sale terminals. With the help of other large companies, retailers may be able to mitigate these costs and establish a foothold in the mobile payments scene.

Germany’s mobile commerce market is beginning to become more lively

Germany’s mobile commerce scene is somewhat less active than what can be found in other markets. While consumers have shown significant interest in mobile payments, they have not shown aggressive support for services that allow them to pay for products with their smartphones and tablets. This may change in the coming years, as retailers become more accommodating of mobile shopping.

The iOS based mobile payments system will be making the leap north from the United States this year.

According to recent reports in the Wall Street Journal, Apple Pay is preparing to launch in a new market before the end of 2015, as it gets itself ready to step north into Canada for a November roll out.

The mobile payments service is already available in the United States, but it has yet to head anywhere else.

iOS device users in other countries may have been waiting to be able to use Apple Pay, but since it was first launched in October 2014, it has been available exclusively in the United States. Now, it looks as though it will become available in other countries, or at least one more, as it will be opening up in Canada this year. Six of the major banks in Canada have been reported to be in talks with Apple with regards to its wireless, contactless mobile payments system.

Despite the fact that Apple Pay is associated with higher fees, it does look as though Canadian banks are ready to support it.

The banks with which Apple has been discussing its mobile payments include: TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, CIBC, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, and the National Bank of Canada. These are some extremely influential institutions over the Canadian marketplace, when it is taken into account that they make up more than 90 percent of all bank accounts in the country.

These banks have indicated that they are prepared to support the smartphone based payments services from Apple, regardless of the fact that there have been some serious concerns expressed about higher fees and even some security problems.

The country is virtually ready, already, with the technology and infrastructure that would be required or the implementation of Apple Pay, as a vast number of the country’s businesses and retailers have already implemented the type of contactless terminals that would be needed to make the service work for iPhone (and Apple Watch) users. The country was among the first to broadly adopt chip-and-PIN tech as well as credit card NFC technology based tap-and-pay terminals.