Tag: contactless payments

NFC technology based payment partnership begins between Verifone and Airtel

The agreement has been designed to give the two companies a new opportunity in the Ghana market.

Verifone Mobile Money has now partnered with Airtel Ghana in order to be able to provide a new mobile payments solution that is based on NFC technology that can be used through mobile devices within that country.

The near field communication based service will make it possible for consumers to “tap and pay”.

The idea behind the partnership is to be able to use this NFC technology to be able to provide consumers with a simpler and easier method of paying for the products and services that they wish to purchase. The transactions are designed to be both convenient and secure. This partnership will bring the strengths of both companies into a single transaction service that will become widely available.

The NFC technology based transactions will be available at a range of sale outlets across Ghana.

NFC Technology - PaymentsThese mobile payments will be available to be used by owners of NFC enabled devices at the many Airtel Merchants as well as other point of sale outlets throughout the country. This will provide a process for completing transactions that is very quick and easy. Once a customer reaches the checkout counter, all he or she needs to do is tap the near field communication enabled smartphone against a reader device in order to launch a payment by way of the individual’s mobile wallet.

That said, it will also be possible for people who don’t have NFC enabled smartphones to be able to pay by way of this technology by using an enabled sticker that will also give them the technology that they require.

The Verifone Mobile Money chief executive, Chris Jones spoke about the NFC technology based payments agreement between the two companies, saying that it “will deliver developed world technologies to the customers of Airtel Money. We believe that NFC technology and the roll out of contactless “tap and pay” across the African continent will help to realize the true economic benefits of cashless economies while driving mobile money adoption through an improved merchant payments experience.”

Swatch leaps into the smartwatch market with both feet

The wristwatch maker and tech company has revealed its plans to compete in the wearable technology category.

The bestselling watchmaker in the world, Swatch Group, has now announced its intentions to introduce new models of smartwatch that will allow consumers to be able to display data from smartphones and to even make contactless payments by way of wearable technology.

The CEO of the company, Nick Hayek, has stated that the first versions of this gadget will be available in May.

At the same time, Hayek made it clear that Swatch doesn’t intend to try to replicate the types of smartwatch that have now been launched by many of the major players in the wearable tech categories, such as Motorola, Pebble, and Apple. Those fully featured devices are not the type of product that this company will be producing, at least not for the first wave. As a company that currently sells 18 percent of all wristwatches in the world, it could be possible that Swatch has a good idea as to what consumers really want to be wearing and what they want from those devices.

Swatch is now adding the smartwatch to its massive lineup that has consistently been growing its market share.

Smartwatch - SwatchThe company makes wristwatches under a range of different brands, including Calvin Klein, Omega, Breguet, Rado, and several others, in addition to its own. It has managed to maintain a consistent growth of its market share over a steady five years and has seen significant sales growth, as well, despite the fact that wristwatches had been somewhat falling out of favor as an accessory.

Now, the company is stepping into a market that already feels flooded, even before these wearable technology devices have started becoming commonplace. Nick Hayek explained that there will be two types of wireless technology incorporated into the first wearables released by the brand. The first will be NFC technology. This will make it possible for the gadgets to trigger contactless payments, unlock hotel room doors and other compatible locks. The second will be Bluetooth, which will allow data to be sent and received through communication between the smartwatches and smartphones.