Tag: nfc technology

New report shows the number of users to use this form of mobile payments will almost triple by 2017.

A recent Juniper Research study indicates that there could be as many as 300 million consumers worldwide who will make mobile contactless payments by the year 2017, which is a huge increase from the slightly more than 110 million that utilized this mobile payment service in 2013.

Contactless card rollouts are gaining momentum in many countries across the globe.

According to the study, several markets may soon be adopting contactless payments for mobile due to the success and popularity of contactless debit and credit cards. In addition, the introduction of contactless cards also lead to an increase in Point of Sale (POS) terminals equipped with Near Field Communications (NFC). It has now become standard for leading POS vendors like Ingenico and VeriFone to ship most of their terminals with NFC.

However, the research director and author of the report, Windsor Holden, stated that stakeholders need to work on their efforts to increase awareness among consumers regarding mobile contactless payments. Furthermore, he said the value proposition also needs to be taught to retailers. Holden commented that contactless payment technology is mainly “being sold to retailers on the basis of faster throughput at the POS. The other critical opportunities offered by contactless – such as consumer engagement and product upselling – are much lower on their radar.”

The cost of mobile contactless payments cards is higher than plastic cards.

The Juniper study also noted that NFC rollouts have been held back due to the lack of a clear business model. Currently, it costs more to issue a mobile payment card than it does a plastic card.

In addition, it is likely that the mobile contactless payments market will receive a significant boost from the expected launch of Apple’s iWallet service. That being said, currently, it is not clear if extra POS upgrades will be necessary once the service is launched. Moreover, it has not been officially confirmed that Apple will be releasing a mobile payments service or that it will feature NFC technology. This isn’t the first time NFC rumors have been linked to Apple, but nothing has ever come of these rumors.

Apple gathers more momentum in the wake of recent event

Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi recently spoke at the WWDC keynote event, where he brought a great deal of attention to Touch ID, the company’s fingerprint scanner that was introduced last year. Touch ID is part of the iPhone 5S and is meant to add an extra layer of biometric security to the mobile device. This biometric system has created a significant deal of hype around Apple’s potential foray into the mobile payments field, and this hype has only increased in the wake of the WWDC event.

Touch ID could help make mobile shopping more secure

During the event, Federighi noted that developers would soon be able to take advantage of the Touch ID API, allowing them to integrate the features of Touch ID into their applications. This could soon lead to the emergence of a new generation of mobile payments services that are much more secure than their predecessors. Security has been a major challenge for the mobile payments field, with many services falling prey to malicious groups that seek to access the financial information of consumers and businesses. Biometric technology could help alleviate the security problem by make services more resilient against the threats they are exposed to in the mobile space.

Apple continues to move away from NFC

Apple has been somewhat outspoken with its security concerns when it comes to the matter of mobile payments. The company had initially shown interest in the use of NFC technology, but NFC has since become unattractive from Apple’s perspective. Instead, the company is focusing more heavily on Bluetooth and cloud technology, with biometrics service as a security barrier that is meant to offer consumers better protection.

Company has yet to make a definitive entry into the mobile payments field

While Apple has been growing more aggressive in the mobile payments field, the company has yet to make a decisive entry into the marketplace. Though iOS devices can be used for mobile shopping and payments, Apple has not yet introduced a service that is specifically designed for payments and is not likely to do so for some time.