Tag: near field communication

NFC technology project will let Singapore public transit users pay via smartphone

| April 11, 2016

At the moment, this tech is still in its pilot phase but the hope is to be able to roll it out in the future.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA), in partnership with EZ-Link and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) have recently brought a trial using NFC technology transit fare to a close and are moving on with a pilot project.

This will allow transit riders to be able to use their smartphones to pay to get from point A to point B.

Compatible mobile devices with NFC technology embedded will be able to use the contactless payment readers on the MRT, LRT and public buses. This type of fare will also be available at any of the over 30,000 EZ-Link acceptance points such as at food and beverage and retail outlets in addition to many taxis. The use of an NFC SIM makes it possible to transform a cell phone into a kind of mobile device-based EZ-Link card. That allows them to use the smartphone in the same way that riders previously used their plastic cards.

The NFC technology based option also allows for additional features regarding their transit use.

NFC Technology - BusFor instance, through the associated app, transit riders can also check their EZ-Link balance, view their transaction history and refill the amount they have in their account for paying their fares.

According to Chew Men Leong, LTA chief exec, “This is a milestone in the use of NFC technology in public transit in Singapore,” adding that, “We have been testing various innovative fare payment systems, and bringing these NFC SIMs and mobile phone models into the public transit ticketing environment to bring greater convenience to commuters through new and convenient ways to pay for travel.”

The trial for the use of this mobile ticketing service initially came to a close in February. That testing involved the use of the service by more than 1,000 users through 15 different NFC enabled mobile devices fitted with the near field communication SIM. All told, they registered more than 30,000 transactions with these devices and the app and a pilot is now starting in order to begin the roll out in the future.

First contactless mobile payments in India to be launched by ICICI Bank

| March 18, 2016

The financial institution claims that it has chosen NFC technology in order to enhance transaction security.

ICICI Bank has recently announced that it will be offering the first contactless mobile payments service in India, after having looked into the various options and decided that NFC technology is the best way to keep transaction data safe throughout the process.

This will make it possible for consumers with one of their credit or debit cards to pay using a smartphone.

Of course, this will require that consumers who want to use the contactless mobile payments will need to shop at a store or restaurant with an NFC reader terminal. At the moment, they are in the vast minority in India. Still, the bank has decided that this is the best way to ensure that consumers keep their sensitive data safe throughout the transaction process, which is what drove them to make this choice. Users of the bank’s Pockets app and who have the right type of device will be eligible to use this service.

This represents the first time that Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology is used for contactless mobile payments in India.

ICICI Bank - Contactless Mobile PaymentsThe HCE tech makes it possible for consumers to be able to use their smartphones as a kind of virtual card so that payments can be made without having to bring the actual plastic credit and banking cards into the shop. The cards compatible with this service are those that have been issued by ICICI Bank, including debit, Visa and MasterCard.

The virtual credit and debit card data is stored in the secure cloud server from the bank. Just as the service requires a merchant’s point of sale to include an NFC reader, it also means that shoppers who want to use these mobile payments will also need to have NFC technology enabled phones. Most smartphones in India do not have this tech, at the moment, which means that there will likely be quite a limited user base upon the initial launch of this service.

Contactless mobile payments using NFC technology are growing in popularity among smartphone wallet companies around the world, including tech, credit card and other financial giants. Among the most well known are Apple Pay and Android Pay.