Tag: nfc technology

Mobile payments at Visa to expand this year

| February 18, 2013

Mobile Payments VisaThe credit card giant intends to go mainstream with its service throughout this year.

Visa has unveiled its intentions to expand the use and availability of its mobile payments services to the point that they will become mainstream within 2013.

Its announcement claimed that the expansion of the systems is an “immediate priority” for the company.

The mobile payments that it has to offer are already working to help to bring the United Kingdom to the top spot in Europe. At the moment, Poland is in the lead in terms of the largest marketplace for transactions using a smartphone or tablet within the European Union.

Visa UK and Ireland have both made announcements regarding this mobile payments mainstream launch.

These were made by way of Marc O’Brien, the managing director of Visa UK and Ireland. He stated that the credit card company was making a series of different efforts that would lead to a mainstream launch of the mobile payments services.

O’Brien also went on to say that his company was currently working alongside the leading manufacturers of Android based devices, in addition to Vodafone and Telefonica. These partnerships are designed to help to established higher security standard levels through the NFC technology based transactions.

In 2012, the Olympic Games in London were used as a trial period for various types of mobile payments. Many of the participants were given smartphones that were enabled with NFC technology in order to boost the awareness related to mobile payments, and encourage its use. O’Brien explained that “Building momentum from the Olympic Games, we’re looking to roll out of the [contactless payment] cards and handsets this year.”

He went on to add that “We’re also working on a digital wallet for cloud-based e-commerce and that’s coming here too this year.” Data from Visa has shown that only 17 percent of the smartphones owned in the United Kingdom are equipped with the NFC technology required for the Visa mobile payments system. However, the company believes that by 2017, that figure will have climbed considerably, to reach 70 percent. It is hoped by the company that this will help to overcome some of the considerable hurdles that it has faced in its trials so far.

NFC technology to be used for Wii U payments and in-game purchases

| February 8, 2013

NFC Technology Wii UThe prototypes for the devices that are enabled with these chips are expected to be released this year.

The Wii U GamePad already includes a function that is enabled with NFC technology, but most users aren’t even aware of it, as it is not extensively discussed on any level, except among developers and intense gamers who talk on the internst.

This is because it isn’t yet used for anything, at the moment.

Even Skylanders, which is shipped with its own reader for NFC technology, does not use it for any purpose. That said, even though it is coming to the forefront once again, most of the purposes for its use have not yet been finalized.

When discussing the topic with investors, Satoru Iwata, the CEO, said the NFC technology plans were not yet concrete.

Iwata said that there are two primary branches of ideas being considered by Nintendo for the use of NFC technology. The first is for toys in the style of Skylanders. The second is to be able to read credit cards so that purchases and payments can be made through the Wii U devices.

As a for instance of the first type of use for the NFC technology, Iwata said “For example, we can create cards and figurines with NFC and design our video games to work in conjunction with them.” He also stated that “Also, an increasing number of arcade games are utilizing IC cards which can read and write data in order to record users’ scores and it is possible for Wii U games to connect with them.”

There are a number of different developers who are working with Nintendo on this type of idea. Iwata said that by the end of 2013, it is likely that there will be something more finalized to show for it, and that some more solid examples will become available. As of yet, however, it appears that the company remains in the concept phase.

Other possible uses for NFC technology that have previously been mentioned by Nintendo include payment cards. In theory, this would make it possible to use an e-money card and either wave it over the device or tap it in order to make a mobile payment.