Tag: nfc mobile payments

Mobile payments based on NFC technology are the next French strategic partnership

| November 13, 2013

Visa and Orange have now announced that they will be working together in this new service.

Orange, a French operator group, has now entered into a strategic partnership with Visa, the credit card giant, in order to help to speed up the awareness of using NFC technology for contactless mobile payments in the country.

The operator has also launched a smartphone based prepayment solution in France called Orange Cash.

These two companies are collaborating to make sure that rate by which consumers are discovering mobile payments based on NFC technology will be considerably accelerated in France. Both of these companies have stated that their goal is to boost awareness of the benefits of using near field communications tech for contactless transactions. They feel that France is a solid marketplace for this type of effort as it is already seeing an increasing adoption among consumers.

The companies stated that in the last half year, contactless mobile payments terminals in France have increased by 50 percent.

nfc mobile paymentsIn the last six months, the number of terminals used by French merchants that include contactless mobile payments has risen by over 50 percent. This means that today there are more than 200,000 active terminals in the country. Moreover, there has been a tremendous NFC technology enabled smartphone deployment in the country, which ensures that a growing number of consumers actually have the necessary tech to complete contactless transactions.

The prepayments service called Orange Cash will become available to subscribers to Orange that have NFC technology compatible smartphones in Caen and in Strasbourg in the first part of 2014. This will be the first stage in a nationwide launch of the mobile payments program within the second quarter of next year.

Customers using this program will need to download the app for Orange Cash from the app store that is applicable to their device, and then simply top up the account with funds by choosing their bank card. In order to actually make a mobile payment through this service, they will simply need to tap their NFC technology enabled device against a compatible payment terminal at the checkout of the retailer’s location.

NFC technology based mobile payments rolling out from Sony

| October 15, 2013

The electronics company has announced that it is launching in Hong Kong by incorporating its tech into Octopus.

Sony Corp. has announced that it will be incorporating its FeliCa NFC technology into the popular Octopus contactless smart card program in Hong Kong, which will mean that riders will be able to use mobile payments to pay for transportation as well as retail purchases.

The public pilot launch was announced by Octopus Cards Ltd. for the first mobile payments service through the company.

The mobile payments service through Octopus will be enabled with the Sony FeliCa compatible NFC technology SIM card product, which they have called the Octopus Mobile SIM. This is the latest element to a broader effort being made by Sony to incorporate mobile solutions on a global scale.

The NFC technology SIM cards are SIM devices are compatible with near field communication.

Sony - NFC TechnologyThis gives people with smartphones that are NFC technology enabled the ability to take advantage of the tech for mobile payments purposes in what they are calling a secure and multi-application format. This new partnered project with Octopus Cards Ltd. will make it possible for consumers to be able to use their devices to access the same services as those that are already available through the conventional products and cards already available through Octopus.

In order to use their devices in this way, consumers must install the Octopus payment applet based on FeliCa, for Octopus payments services on the Gemalto supplied NFC technology SIM card and then insert that card into their smartphone which is already compatible with near field communications.

The Sony Xperia models (including the Xperia V, Z, ZR, Z Ultra(3G), Z Ultra(LTE) and Z1) will be the first to be compatible with the NFC technology services, as they will be sold with the special SIM cards pre-installed when purchased with a subscription to the PCCW-HKT local mobile network operator’s paid service plan. The contactless FeliCa IC card tech has been built into Japanese mobile phones since 2004. Since that time, many different compatible services have been developed, from electronic money to public transportation fare and various forms of services involving ID.