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News Archive |
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Sunday, 17 January 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — Visa and Creative Mobile Technologies announced the launch of a program to equip thousands of New York taxicabs with contactless payment readers, located in the back of the taxi.
New York taxis equipped with the new readers are able to accept both Visa payWave transactions as well as traditional swipe transactions. Passengers are able to include a tip to the price of the fare, and no signature is required for transactions under $25. Visa research shows more and more consumers want to use a payment card for purchases under $25 for convenience (73 percent), efficiency (44 percent) and speed (39 percent).
"Our goal is to bring cutting-edge technology to the New York taxi industry to increase efficiency and quality of service," said Jesse H. Davis, President and COO at Creative Mobile Technologies. "By partnering with Visa, we're able to help taxi owners and operators easily integrate a new technology and streamline their business operations."
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
INSIDE Contactless, a provider of contactless chip technologies based in Aix-en-Provence, France, has announced a partnership with Paris-based MobiNear, a provider of mobile communications solutions.
According to a news release from INSIDE Contactless, the two companies will install INSIDE's near-field communication capabilities on MobiNear Box kiosks, allowing customers to use their contactless cards and NFC-enabled mobile phones to access MobiNear's PayGO platform. PayGo offers a range of applications, including payment-processing, loyalty-card functions and ticketing.
Christian Chabrerie, founder and chief executive of MobiNear, says the company chose INSIDE's technology because it was easy and cost-effective to integrate:
The MobiNear Box kiosk is our first solution to include NFC in addition to Bluetooth, BlueNFC and Wi-Fi interfaces, and we chose to work with INSIDE because they are the world leader in NFC technology. INSIDE's NFC reader module provided a turnkey solution we were able to easily integrate into our MobiNear Box. This significantly reduced the development time and cost required to add NFC capabilities to our platform.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
DAYTON, Ohio -- On Monday, NCR Corp. unveiled software that allows consumers to deposit checks into their bank accounts without leaving the comfort of their living room chair, and more importantly, without having to throw down cash for new computer equipment.
Once installed on a user's home computer, NCR APTRA Consumer Passport software can interface with any financial institution's Web site to provide automated Check 21 deposit services.
It's a service that has been available only to businesses, until now, according to a news release.
While accessing their online banking account, consumers can make the deposits via a TWAIN-based flatbed scanner. As an industry standard interface, TWAIN enables devices such as scanners to communicate with software applications and is found in common home scanners and multifunction scanning devices.
According to the release, NCR APTRA Consumer Passport is well suited to consumers who rarely have occasion to deposit checks, such as a child's birthday check or a rebate check, mor may not have convenient access to their financial institution.
After the front and back of the endorsed check are scanned, the image can then be electronically sent to the participating financial institution for validation, processing and clearing. For select clients, this remote deposit service could allow for same-day crediting to their accounts, quicker access to deposited funds and detailed deposit records for improved record keeping.
"We live in a world in which consumers are using more self-service technologies than ever before, and they are also demanding a wider range of self-service options," said Brian Bailey, vice president of financial industry marketing for NCR Corp. "NCR APTRA Consumer Passport is a reflection of how self-service and sophisticated imaging technology can be used to help consumers connect, interact and transact with financial institutions, while maintaining a high level of security for all parties."
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — CO-OP Financial Services is now offering credit unions a turnkey entry into mobile banking and contactless card payments, according to a news release.
CO-OP announced its mobile banking offering in Oct. 2008, with the selection of mFoundry's financial services platform to deliver mobile banking offerings to credit unions via a downloadable client application. Mobile banking allows credit union members real-time access to verify balances, view transaction history and transfer funds among their accounts, all through the use of mobile devices.
Because it requires minimal set-up, the mFoundry platform integrates into CO-OP's Next Generation Network (NGN) switch to provide mobile banking to members of all credit unions participating in its network. Credit unions do not have to make any changes to their host or home banking system to participate in CO-OP Mobile. CO-OP NGN provides the members with access to their share and loan accounts with up to 30 days of account history.
Tony Rasmussen, senior vice president of $2.7 billion Mountain America Credit Union, said his credit union was one of the early adopters of mobile banking three years ago, and is eager to partner with CO-OP to expand its offering to its members, especially now that consumer awareness and usage of the service has grown.
"We knew mobile banking would pick up in a big way, and we didn't want to lack the ability to compete," he said.
CO-OP Contactless Processing Services will debut at GAC. As the name implies, contactless payments are payment transactions that do not require physical contact between the payment device and the point-of-sale terminal. The consumer holds the contactless card or device in close proximity to the merchant POS terminal and the payment account information is communicated wirelessly via radio frequency in a secure environment to the terminal. The transaction is debited from the consumer's checking account without having to enter a PIN, sign or swipe a card for most transactions.
"With contactless cards, credit unions can offer additional convenience and speed to their members while improving retention and card usage," said Stan Hollen, president and chief executive of CO-OP Financial Services.
CO-OP's support for contactless card processing, debuting at the GAC conference in Washington D.C., will initially support MasterCard's PayPass service for contactless debit card processing. CO-OP also plans to support other payment form factors, such as key fobs, watches and stickers that have been approved by MasterCard or Visa.
Wednesday, 04 February 2009
ContactlessNews: Mention near field communication and most think mobile payments. That's probably because the next generation technology is being touted as a replacement for contactless cards or potentially even the next wallet. NFC will enable a phone to carry credit card information, loyalty card information and maybe driver licenses. But what makes NFC so attractive is the wide range of applications it can support, whether it's opening a hotel room door, acting as a tour guide or checking into a flight and acting as a boarding pass.
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Wednesday, 28 January 2009
International Supermarket News: Beginning February 11, Carrefour will work together with the country's leading mobile operators to put in place a series of large scale Near Field Communication trials that will see consumers using NFC phones to make payments via the contactless MasterCard version, of its own brand credit/loyalty card, known as Pass. At the same time it has also signed a deal to install between 1,000 and 1,500 self-checkout machines, incorporating the ability to handle a wide range of advanced payments technologies including NFC.
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Thursday, 06 November 2008
PARIS — VeriFone Holdings, Inc., has introduced a contactless version of its popular PINpad 1000SE, further expanding the industry's broadest line of contactless payment solutions, according to a news release.
VeriFone today also unveiled SingleCI (Single Contactless Interface), a unifying programming interface with development tools that allows acquirers and developers to leverage existing contactless investments, adapt to future needs, and take advantage of the company's entire contactless portfolio. SingleCI is compatible with today's industry-leading contactless interfaces.
The contactless PINpad 1000SE combines two payment peripherals — PIN entry and contactless — into one space-saving device that reduces costs and support burdens. Suitable for use worldwide, the PCI PED approved PINpad1000SE contactless version is backward-compatible with earlier versions, and features USB or serial connectivity for easy connection to electronic cash registers and POS devices.
"We are unleashing contactless by making it effortlessly available in the best-selling PIN entry device on the market today," said Paul Rasori, VeriFone senior vice president, marketing. "Acquirers can literally swap out an older PINpad 1000SE for this new solution. That makes it easy for them to deploy contactless applications to merchants for acceptance of contactless payments from the widest range of card brands, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express."
The PINpad 1000SE contactless version also supports non-payment applications, such as MiFare, and will be commercially available in the first half of 2009.
Fully compatible with common industry interfaces, SingleCI enables acquirers to leverage their existing investments in contactless platforms. In addition, it future-proofs new investments by providing development tools that enable acquirers to easily add new features and applications, and adapt to changing specifications such as the NFC (Near-Field Communications) standard.
Monday, 03 November 2008
PARIS — ViVOtech, a provider of near field communication (NFC) mobile phone and contactless payment systems, has launched a flexible contactless payment reader for the kiosk, transit turnstile, bus validator and ticketing markets.
According to a news release, the new ViVOpay Kiosk II is a two-piece modular reader that enables ease of installation in new self-service systems and is certified to work with all major contactless payment programs without requiring the systems to go through a rigorous and costly compliance re-certification process with card associations and network providers.
The ViVOpay Kiosk II is a flexible contactless reader that is comprised of a compact controller module and a customer-facing contactless antenna module for easy integration into a new customer-facing self-service system. Each module in the ViVOpay solution is packaged individually, giving equipment manufacturers complete flexibility in integrating contactless payment functionality with their systems. This flexible design approach allows the controller module to be securely installed within the cabinetry of the system while the small footprint antenna is installed in a customer-facing location with minimal effort.
"Self-service markets are experiencing rapid growth worldwide and manufacturers of self-service systems are demanding a flexible pre-certified contactless reader that can be quickly and easily installed in new systems," said Mohammad Khan, ViVOtech president and founder. "The modular design of our new ViVOpay Kiosk II and pre-certification with card associations and network providers enables solution providers in transportation, retail, parking and other industries to deliver contactless and NFC mobile-enabled devices to market fast and efficiently."
The ViVOpay Kiosk II features a weather-proof customer-facing antenna that allows it to be used in self-ordering kiosk systems across a wide variety of applications such as parking meters, ticket validation/payment machines, transit turnstile systems, airport self-check-in systems, bus ticket acceptance machines, and many more. ViVOpay Kiosk II also enables self-service systems to accept transactions from NFC mobile phone for payments, ticketing, promotions and coupon redemption applications.
Friday, 04 January 2008
DAYTON, Ohio — NCR Corp., in partnership with ViVOtech, has introduced a suite of contactless payment terminals for the point of sale. These solutions enable mobile and contactless payment at a variety of customer touch points, including retail checkout, restaurant drive-thru and the diner’s table.
Demonstrations of the new technology will take place Jan. 13-16 during the National Retail Foundation's Annual Convention & Expo in New York.
“NCR’s unparalleled experience in payment transactions, combined with ViVOtech’s expertise in contactless technology, provides retailers with the latest contactless payment options and a platform for future near field communication applications,” said Greg Egan, NCR vice president for Retail Assisted Service Solutions. “This line of NCR RealPOS contactless readers is designed to help merchants achieve a successful contactless and mobile payments program, and provide a new level of service to their customers.”
Friday, 28 September 2007
MALVERN, Pa. · USA Technologies has announced that Fantasy Entertainment, a supplier of photo and imaging kiosks, has equipped 1,000 of its self-service photo booths nationwide with e-Port cashless payment technology.
"The results of giving our customers the ability to use credit and debit cards are so impressive that we hope to expand the e-Port deployment to 2,000 photo booths within the next 18 months," said Dale Valvo, president of Fantasy Entertainment.
Photo booths equipped with USA Technologies' e-Port cashless solution allow consumers to use credit and debit cards when making payments, whether with traditional magnetic swipe or "tap and go" contactless cards.
Photo booths already account for more than 20 percent of all currently installed kiosks. Summit Research estimates there nearly will be 1.7 million kiosks worldwide by 2009. USA Technologies' e-Port also gives Fantasy Entertainment the ability to monitor remotely photo booth performance and data 24x7. The e-Port Connect service enables merchants to remotely manage and mobilize online and by wireless their unattended cashless points-of-sale locations, providing merchant services, networking and communication services, technical support and consumer help desk, and electronic transfer of funds.
Fantasy Entertainment's 3,000 self-service kiosks are located in shopping and entertainment centers, malls, theme parks, zoos, aquariums, hotels and resorts nationwide. They include high-tech interactive photo systems where consumers can reproduce their image in multiple categories, create artist quality sketches of portraits and photo strips on easily separated perforated sheets.
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
RFID Journal: 100 consumers who shop at the C1000 grocery store in Molenaarsgraaf, the Netherlands, have begun paying for transactions with mobile phones equipped with Near Field Communications RFID chips. The group is participating in a six-month pilot conducted by Schuitema, the nation's second largest retail chain, which · in an effort to improve efficiency at the checkout counter · is testing RFID in one of its 450 C1000 stores. In the Molenaarsgraaf store, RFID interrogators have been added to check-out terminals, a machine that accepts empty returnable bottles and kiosks used by consumers to make charitable donations.
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Wednesday, 08 August 2007
DAYTON, Ohio · NCR Corp. has made a minority investment in Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech Inc., provider of payment terminals and software, to incorporate ViVOtech's contactless-payment and near-field communications systems into its next-generation platforms. NCR says it also will collaborate with ViVOtech for distribution deals of the technology.
According to a news release, ViVOtech's contactless payment systems, combined with its other technologies, including NFC-related mobile payments, promotions and over-the-air provisioning software, allow consumers to make a wide range of contactless payments and identify themselves as they conduct self-service transactions.
NFC technology provides short-range wireless connectivity that enables mobile phones to electronically interact with payment systems for a variety of transactions, including those at the point of sale, ATMs and kiosks.
As part of the deal with NCR, ViVOtech will supply contactless technology and NFC-mobile-transaction software for a variety of NCR's current solutions on a global basis.
Friday, 04 May 2007
TORONTO · Visa Canada Association announced the availability of its contactless technology, Visa payWave, in the Canadian market. Visa payWave-enabled products offer the security benefits inherent in EMV chip technology.
For merchants, Visa payWave will offer benefits including faster transaction times, increased ticket size, card usage and customer loyalty.
Visa payWave builds on the success of Visa's "No Signature Required" (NSR) program which offers merchants a payment option that can decrease check-out times. Currently, the NSR program does not require a cardholder signature for purchases of $25 or less at certain merchant locations such as fast food restaurants, movie theatres, parking lots, variety and convenience stores, news stands and video/DVD rental stores. Visa payWave-enabled products will offer quicker transaction times and leverage the security of chip card technology.
To use a Visa payWave-enabled product, cardholders wave their card or device near a secure reader at checkout, instead of swiping it. All other aspects of a Visa payWave transaction are handled in the same way as a traditional Visa transaction.
Friday, 04 May 2007
CSNews.com: Hoping to improve its customers' experience, BP is introducing universal contactless payment technology at participating BP-branded retail locations.
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Wednesday, 02 May 2007
NEW YORK · With 582 million banking and payment smart cards in circulation worldwide, it is a wonder that the technologically savvy U.S. lags far behind much of the developed world. Yet according to "Smart Cards in the U.S.: Contactless Payment Cards," a new Packaged Facts report, only 27 million contactless payment cards were in circulation in the United States in 2006.
This scenario will quickly change, however, as the report estimates total contactless credit and debit cards in U.S. circulation will reach 109 million by 2011. With the fast-paced American lifestyle continuing to put pressure on retailers to serve customers more efficiently, and card brands such as MasterCard and Visa pushing for bigger slices of the small-ticket payments pie traditionally reserved for cash, the time is finally right for large-scale penetration of smart cards in the payments market.
Total purchase volume in the U.S. via cards with a contactless feature neared an estimated $15 billion in 2006, registering a 700 percent CAGR from 2004 to 2006. That figure should increase significantly as the number of contactless transactions · nearly 777 million in 2006 · is expected to reach 2.2 billion by 2011.
"Card issuers are rapidly expanding their market presence in contactless payments and the percentage of retailers having contactless payment systems is expected to nearly triple within two years," said Tatjana Meerman, managing editor of Packaged Facts. "Increasing consumer awareness of the technological, safety, and convenience factors inherent in smart cards will only serve to make penetrating the consumer market much easier in the coming years."
This report may be viewed at PackagedFacts.com.
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Itweek.co.uk: Scottish councils will extend their use of smart cards to allow cashless payments in schools, libraries and leisure facilities. The National Entitlement Card Programme will prioritize smart-card use for registration, cashless catering, and controlled access to computer rooms, libraries, vending machines.
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007
SAN JOSE, Calif. · VeriFone Holdings announced that its first external contactless-card-acceptance device, the QX100, has been certified by Visa and MasterCard for contactless payments on Visa Contactless and MasterCard PayPass.
The QX100 fixes to VeriFone's Omni 3700 and Nurit's payment systems, to name a couple, providng merchants a cost-effective migration to contactless, "tap and pay" card acceptance.
The QX100 is capable of high-speed encryption using modern encryption algorithms.
Wednesday, 18 April 2007
Cardtechnology.com: With the planned launch in London of contactless retail payments in roughly six months, no merchants have announced plans to use the technology. But the United Kingdom's largest banks, including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, reportedly support the project.
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007
Cardtechnology.com: At least 3 million Pasmo contactless smart cards have been sold less than a month after the product's launch. The Pasmo card is similar to the Suica contactless card that is used to pay train fares and make purchases at about 12,000 shops throughout Greater Tokyo.
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Tuesday, 17 April 2007
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. · MonVia, a firm which helps accelerate growth of early stage start-ups, announced the launch of MobiBucks, a mobile payment solution. With a cell phone number and four-digit PIN, consumers may make free and secure cashless transactions on everyday purchases through MobiBucks.
Available in heavily-trafficked consumer locations such as cafes, sandwich shops, gas stations, grocery stores, movie theatres and convenience stores, MobiBucks allows participating merchants and customers to access a payment system that mobilizes consumer cash and gift cards.
Features of MobiBucks include the ability to convert cash into electronic payments using a cell phone even if the cell phone may not be on-hand; the use of a ubiquitous mobile phone number as a unique identifier and a secure PIN to conduct commerce; no need to force consumers to purchase a new cell phone and merchants can also keep their existing payment systems; the elimination of critical issues related to cell phone payments such as running out of power and unsafe or unreliable conditions.
"By using a device that approximately two billion people already have, MobiBucks' patent pending technology is the ultimate solution and the future of mobile payment," said Dave Barram, co-founder and chief executive of MobiBucks.
"Through a soft beta launch, we were thrilled to discover that consumers love MobiBucks because it's a free, convenient and fast way to pay without having their wallet on them," said Jorge Fernandes, co-founder and president of MobiBucks. "As a result, we believe we can convert more than 50 percent of all cash transactions at these high traffic consumer locations."
The MobiBucks process involves four easy steps. A one-time registration, topping up, or adding money to a MobiBucks account in-store or online and as often as necessary, making transactions, and finally checking balances and transactions which may be done at any time online or via cell phone.
"Consumers tend to spend more when they are not using cash as a form of payment," added Fernandes. "With MobiBucks, merchants will be able to convert cash into electronic payments and ultimately increase sales."
Thursday, 12 April 2007
Prlog.org: Industry leaders will assemble in Mexico City for a conference on "Smart Cards for Government and Payment." The conference will be held May 8-9 at the Hotel Presidente InterContinental, Mexico City. The conference's aim is to help the leaders learn about the ways to take advantage of the rapid growth in smart card technology. They will also get to know about the recent developments in this industry.
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Wednesday, 11 April 2007
SINGAPORE · Visa Asia Pacific announced three new markets have hit the 1-million mark with their Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) chip-card deployments. EMV is the global standard for chip-based credit and debit transactions, and is the foundation for emerging payments such as contactless and mobile solutions.
In December , Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand joined Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia in the 1-million chip-card club from Visa's member banks.
Australia's EMV chip card base doubled from September 2006 to December 2006 quarters, hitting more than 1.4 million cards; Hong Kong's base of 400,000 chip cards grew to more than 1 million during the same period; and Thailand experienced a 15-fold from 2005 to 2006 to hit 1 million.
The results represent a 46 percent year-to-year increase in EMV card deployment in the region that's consistent with annual chip-card growth over the last three years in Asia-Pacific.
"We now have more than 63 million EMV chip cards in the Asia-Pacific, representing 19 percent of Visa's card base," said Jack Pan, regional head of chip migration for Visa Asia Pacific. "Combined with the 1.68 million EMV chip terminals deployed, Visa and its member financial institutions are helping to create a secure and advanced chip payment foundation."
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
Morerfid.com: MasterCard Worldwide announced it has signed a development agreement with ASK, a supplier of contactless cards, tickets, RFID tags, e-passport inlays, and readers for mass transit, access-control, banking, e-identity and supply-chain markets, to create paper-based contactless-payment solutions for use in transit and other payments environments.
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Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Idtechex.com: In the last few weeks, orders for more than $100 million worth of contactless cards and associated systems have been placed. The business is surging, with the percentage of smart cards that are contactless rising to 16 percent of deliveries in 2007, after being stuck at around 5 percent for the preceding 20 years.
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Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Prepaid-press.com: The contactless card tag consists of a semiconductor chip or set of chips and an antenna that relays radio frequency signals into and out of the chip at the point of the transaction. This passive RFID technology creates a fear factor for most people who don't understand how it works. In some cases, however, this fear is reasonable.
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Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Internetnews.com: ViVOTech is looking to bring RFID rapid payment to the cell phone. After years of development, it has begun to strike deals with credit card companies and retail outlets to support cardless and contactless purchases, just by waving a cell phone.
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Tuesday, 14 November 2006
ePaynews: The Smart Card Alliance has dismissed claims by a group of U.S. researchers of a potential security loophole in RFID contactless payment cards.
Last month, the researchers reported that they carried out tests with 20 RFID-enabled credit cards to see if they could read data being transmitted over the air. They then demonstrated to a New York Times reporter that a cardholder's name and other data, which could include the card number and expiration date, were leaked in plaintext to an unauthenticated card reader.
Randy Vanderhoof, executive director at the U.S.-based Smart Card Association, says these tests were carried out in laboratory conditions and would not happen in real life.
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Friday, 16 June 2006
datamonitor.com: Wells Fargo plans to roll out two new credit cards using Visa contactless technology in the second half of 2006.
The company said the new cards, the Wells Fargo Visa Platinum Credit Card and Visa Signature Credit Card, can be used for payments under $25 when the customer holds the card near a reader at the checkout as opposed to swiping them or handing them to a cashier. The cards can also be used in the traditional way for larger payments.
The new cards have built-in security with the WellsProtect program where cardholders are protected against any unauthorized transactions. Wells Fargo ATM, ATM & check card and credit cards are all covered by the WellsProtect program.
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