Tag: technology news

Unique commercial NFC payments service launched by BBVA

BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) has made technology news by becoming the initial bank to unveil near field communication (NFC) technology in its commercial contactless payments service that is based on Visa’s host card emulation (HCE) specifications.

Bank customers can utilize the payments solution by downloading the latest version of the BBVA Wallet app.

Customers who are interested in taking advantage of the new Visa cloud based payments service only need to obtain the most recent version of the app and they can begin making NFC payments. That said, consumers will also need to have a mobile phone that can run Android 4.4 and is equipped with NFC technology. However, customers who do not have a suitable handset may be able to benefit from contactless stickers which the banking firm will be making available.

In addition to providing contactless mobile payments, the BBVA Wallet instantly notifies customers of every transaction they make, as well as provides them with offers, discounts and even finance options they can purchase.

The global payment systems director at BBVA, Mehmet Sezgin said, “Our employees and some of our customers, who are the most active users of BBVA Wallet in Spain, are already using this latest technology that gives BBVA the opportunity to offer our millions of customers worldwide an incredibly simple and intuitive way to start using their phone for contactless payments.”

BBVA’s technology news is good news for the U.S., Chile and Mexico

The bank explained that it is Visa’s cloud based payment specifications that has made the international expansion of BBVA Wallet possible and that part of this includes utilizing HCE technology. Payments that are cloud based allow in-store transactions, which use secure data that does not require security that is hardware based but, rather, is kept within the bank’s “cloud based” systems. The company’s goal is for their mobile wallet to be carried and used by their customers across all of the geographical regions where the business operates.

Currently, BBVA customers in Spain with NFC enabled Android smartphones can use the new mobile payments service. However, later this year, the banking firm expects to extend its contactless payments service to customers in Chile, Mexico and the United States, which is likely welcome technology news for those bank customers looking to take advantage of this great new service.

A new Gartner report has shown that smartphones and tablets are still driving these expenses.

According to a recent report that has been issued by Gartner, mobile is still making technology news as a primary driver of global IT spending, but it has also shown that the pace isn’t speeding up quite as much as it had been in previous quarters and years.

The momentum for global IT spending in the mobile environment is starting to ease off.

The Gartner technology news report stated that that the IT spending worldwide remains on pace, having come to a total of $3.7 trillion, so far, in 2014. This represents a healthy 2.1 percent increase over the same time in 2013. That said, the well respected research firm has also noted that this growth rate has decreased when compared to earlier projections which had pegged it at 3.2 percent.

This year’s technology news predictions have diminished as a result of the decrease in expected device growth.

Also contributing to the slowing growth in IT spending is a slowing in the expectations for data center systems as well as in IT services, to a certain degree. According to the Gartner managing vice president, Richard Gordon, “Price pressure based on increased competition, lack of product differentiation and the increased availability of viable alternative solutions has had a dampening effect on the short term IT spending outlook.”

That said, Gartner also predicts that it won’t be long before the figures will start to even off and return to spending growth levels that are closer to “normal”. Gordon explained that “However, 2015 through 2018 will see a return to ‘normal’ spending growth levels as pricing and purchasing styles reach a new equilibrium.” He described the current situation in IT as entering into “its third phase of development”, in which it moves on from a focus directly on the tech and the processes of the past in order to look ahead to new forms of business model that have become possible as a result of digitalization.

In 2014, the technology news expectations are that smartphones, tablets, and other devices will still see growth in sales, though not as great as in previous quarters. Now it is believed that the growth over 2013’s figures will be 1.2 percent, to reach $685 billion.