Category: NFC Technology

Digital wallet apps are growing in popularity and NFC technology is becoming more widespread.

The smart technology sector has been increasing the interest that consumers have been having in mobile payments services and apps, and it is now believed that these transactions are finally starting to take off in a meaningful way.

This market now has quite a large number of players that each offer their interpretation of the best service.

Within this mobile payments market, NXT-ID Inc, a biometric security company, is expecting that it will become profitable in 2015. This, according to Gino Pereira, its chief exec, at a time in which it is now rolling out an alternative digital wallet service to some very large competition, including Apple Pay. This service is hoping to be able to stand out from the rest with what it feels are exceptional mobile security protections.

Mobile payments has been held back by a continual fear consumers hold with regards to security.

Consumers have yet to feel confident that their sensitive private and financial data will be held secure when using their smartphones as a mobile wallet. According to Pereira, NXT-ID is expecting that its voice- and passcode-protected “Wocket” wallet will be adopted quite quickly. He recently stated that “Even if you take a small percentage of credit cards holders (in the United States) and multiply it by $150 you will see there is a multi-billion-dollar market that is available to us.”

The day before Pereira made that statement, NXT-ID had stated that it had brought in an unidentified sum of money in order to give its Wocket production a boost. It has since experienced a near doubling of its share. The company, based in Connecticut, was founded in 2011. Last year, it did not report any revenue, but it did report a $1.54 million loss.

Since the unveiling of Apple Pay, mobile payments has been gaining a great deal more attention as both merchants and consumers, alike have been taking this transaction much more seriously. Both that service and Wocket, by NXT-ID will function on existing terminals found in stores across the country.

Mary Carol Harris joins Apple, bringing her extensive mobile payments experience with her

Apple has made an aggressive move in the mobile payments space. The company has successfully acquired Mary Carol Harris, the former director of mobile for Visa Europe. Harris has significant experience in the mobile space, especially when it comes to payments. She also has expertise with NFC technology, which is the foundation of the new Apple Pay service. Apple’s acquisition of Harris may go a long way in improving the company’s stance in the European mobile commerce market.

Apple is working to establish a strong foothold in the European market

Apple Pay intends to change the way that people pay for goods and services, leveraging contactless technology in order to make payments more convenient for consumers. The service is already being heavily supported by a wide variety of financial institutions, including Visa itself. In the U.S., Apple Pay has been met with excitement, but this is not the case in other parts of the world. In Europe, the demand for mobile commerce services has been quite high, but consumers have become quite comfortable with the services that they are currently using, which may make it difficult for Apple Pay to stand out amongst the competition.

Harris could be pivotal to Apple’s European goals

Mary Carol Harris has 14 years of experience in digital and mobile payments. Before joining Visa, she ran Telefonica’s NFC division. She served as Visa Europe’s vice president in charge of strategic alliances and projects in mobile thereafter. Harris has extensive experience in creating mobile payment systems and she was one of the pioneers of payments via SMS. She may serve as a powerful ally in Apple’s push into the European market.

Apple looks to partner with European financial organizations

Apple is hoping to form partnerships with European financial institutions that mirror its partnerships with organizations in the U.S. By partnering with European banks, Apple will be able to make its new mobile payments service more widely available. The Apple Pay service supports NFC technology, but only works with payments being made from an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.