Dear Readers,
Most of last week revolved around the news that the new iPhone 5 (if that's its name) will include NFC technology. These news, following on from the release of the Passbook App in Apple's iOS 6 seem to be a strong indication that Apple is, indeed, about to embrace the mobile payment revolution.
Investigations into leaked hardware code dumps from iPhone prototypes have led various analysts to believe that the iPhone 5 will have NFC controllers directly connected to the power management unit (http://bit.ly/NChOM0 ). Jim Peters, CTO of SITA, agrees that NFC is coming to the iPhone and told delegates at this year's Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels that retailers should prepare: “The opinion is that Apple is going to incorporate NFC into Passbook. Apple just thinks about how they can make it really easy for the user, and then they figure out how to monetize it"(http://bit.ly/MJhkCV). Apple, earlier this month, showed off Passbook, a new App that stores digital tickets, boarding passes, coupons, vouchers and so on. NFC isn't required to use Passbook, but it could work with it, and it's a sign that Apple has the consumer's personal finances in mind.
In the same week, expectations were running high for a Google Wallet 2.0 launch at the Google I/O, the company's annual conference for developers that took place June 27–29 at San Francisco's Moscone Center. The feedback from several people familiar with the plan was that Google would announce changes to the product amounting to a 'Google Wallet 2.0.' (http://bit.ly/LNgG6c ). In the end we saw nothing as drastic as a 2.0 relaunch. Instead we were treated to a Nexus 7 tablet that also included NFC technology and a Save-to-Wallet API included into the Google Wallet. This API will allow consumers to save offers directly from a merchant's website into Google Wallet and then redeem them at the point-of-sale via NFC, mobile barcodes or by simply showing the offer code to the sales assistant. (http://bit.ly/ODnSFp ). The Save-To-Wallet API is to be opened on a limited beta basis. Google informed interested parties that "we will be releasing this API to approved partners. Filling out this form will add you to a waiting list and does not guarantee access to the API."
I've got to be honest here, I actually expected a little more in terms of a finished product. In my personal opinion, this is hardly a 2.0 relaunch. I really, really hope that this is not going to go the way of many of Google's products; over-hyped and under-performed.
Last week also saw C|NET performing the first transactions with the much promoted Samsung Galaxy S3 incorporating the Visa Contactless Payment App. The journalist himself was very impressed with the phone and the App, "Install the Visa Contactless Payment App on your phone and you can set up a debit or credit card. I had to complete a quick registration process typing in the details of my chosen card, but when it's made available to the public, Visa plans to let you call your bank and ask them to enable your phone, so they can send settings to your phone over the air." However, his overall experience was pretty typical: "Of course, once you've found a place that accepts contactless payments, there's no guarantee the staff will be au fait with phone payments, but in the big chains you should be okay. The McDonald's server pouring me my milkshake didn't bat an eyelid, and Pret staff were very helpful, even though it wasn't working." Still, a step in the right direction and Visa says it has certified 12 phones for contactless payments, and most new phones have built-in NFC . Visa also told C|NET that a UK bank is launching an NFC App in time for the Olympics, but kept them guessing which one that may be. (http://bit.ly/NS21ZK).
Finally, we are pleased to announce that we have created a LinkedIn Group for Contactless Intelligence on… well, LinkedIn. You can join here (http://lnkd.in/JXRxjQ) and we really do encourage you to. Not only will you be able to join in the Intelligence quizzes there soon but we are also looking to use this group as a platform to develop the agenda for next year's Contactless Intelligence Spring Conference and trust me, we have a real doozy of an idea – you really won't want to be kept out of the loop on this one! So go along and join now - you'll be glad you did!
Until next week.
Steve Atkins
Contactless Intelligence
Featured on C-ITV this week
Payments & m-Commerce
Google wallet going nowhere? Are contactless credit cards just better? http://bit.ly/MSNpVm
T-Mobile, Verizon invest $100M more in mobile wallet venture http://bit.ly/MOhNEa
Revenue down, losses widen at mobile payments start up Bango http://bit.ly/MOhIAa
O2 picks Paypoint for O2 Wallet http://bit.ly/MPqm1w
10,000 people use contactless payment wristbands at Isle of Wight festival http://bit.ly/LNj90r
Google wallet 2.0 expected this week? http://bit.ly/LNgG6c
Fino buys out Nokia's mobile payment arm http://bit.ly/LSHQIM
Russian Post to trial contactless payment with MasterCard http://bit.ly/LSHAtc
O2 Germany to offer NFC devices for m-payments by end-2012 http://bit.ly/LSHUbp
Google adds ‘Save to Wallet’ APIs for payments cards and offers http://bit.ly/ODnSFp
Placecast arms mobile wallets with location-based offers http://bit.ly/LzawE6
Decoupled Debit is Alive and Well…in the Mobile Wallet http://bit.ly/Lzb8cO
Turkey: touch in, pay out http://on.ft.com/LzdPLr
NFC & Mobile
Orange to Roll Out NFC SIMs as it Tries to Seed French Market http://bit.ly/MOhV6B
New iPhone could pack NFC for mobile payments with Passbook http://bit.ly/MOhQQj
Means nothing yet, still... New iPhone prototypes have NFC chips and antenna http://bit.ly/NChOM0
NFC Joint Patent Program Ends; No Disruption to Licensing Say Chip Makers http://bit.ly/MSNjgp
SITA CTO: Be prepared, Apple will make NFC happen this year (really?) http://bit.ly/MJhkCV
Targobank, E-Plus to launch NFC payments in Germany http://bit.ly/MSZmOC
1m Android NFC devices now shipping every week http://bit.ly/LSI1nk
Google unveils Nexus Q media player with NFC http://bit.ly/LSI5DQ
Google unveils Nexus 7 tablet with NFC http://bit.ly/LSI3M5
Samsung Galaxy S3 contactless NFC payment tested in UK shops http://bit.ly/NS21ZK
Marketing Strategies for Businesses Believes Future Is in Near-Field Communication http://bit.ly/Lzb6lc
RIM Chides Samsung for Using Nonstandard NFC Technology in Tags http://bit.ly/LzcrbP
AT&T Seeks to Offer Range of NFC Services; Plans to Hire TSM http://bit.ly/LzcsMX
Transportation, Ticketing & Loyalty
It's in the Daily Mail! Must be true! UK Gov. to use loyalty card data to snoop on the habits of 25million shoppers http://bit.ly/MOh9GC
UK: Green transport schemes given £266m http://ind.pn/LSHWjK
Customer loyalty schemes are key to m-payment growth - study http://bit.ly/LzaD2k
Greater Manchester to develop Oyster-style travel card after £32m boost http://bbc.in/LzcynD
Other News & Opinion Articles
Introducing The Mobile Wallet Report, the new research service from the NFC World team http://bit.ly/MSNk46
Wallaby Combines All Your Credit Cards Into One, Makes Sure You Earn The Most Rewards http://tcrn.ch/MT0TEr
Visa's London 2012 Olympic Games Trip for Life Sweepstakes to be Promoted on USA Technologies' Network http://bit.ly/MT0Vfg
Chip-and-pin bypass used in £48m fraud scheme http://bit.ly/MT13LY
GlobalPlatform and the Trusted Computing Group Form Work Group to Drive Mobile Security Standards and Solutions http://bit.ly/LzaHz2
|
