Dear Readers,
Various MNOs went out of their way last week to remind us just how well they were doing in countries adopting contactless and mobile payments. Turkcell is successful in Turkey with their mobile wallet service, for example, and T-Mobile is also doing very well in the Czech Republic with their m-payment service.
“Recently, we have seen increased interest of both customers and vendors in using the m-payment service. A year-on-year increase of 111% is a very nice figure indeed,” said Milan Haba, Vice President Category & Product Management at T-Mobile, adding, “People particularly appreciate the convenience offered by payments for purchases via mobile telephones. We believe that in the near future we will be able to further extend the payment options, for example using NFC technology.”
Not to be outdone, Turkcell's management also reminded us that, with the aid of Garanti Bank and MasterCard, they have had their own mobile payment system, Turkcell Cüzdan (Turkish for “wallet”) since October 2012. So far, they say, they have reached almost a million customers and 400,000 credit cards are linked to their customers mobile wallets. Those figures indicate that the project appears to be running ahead of expectations. Cenk Bayrakdar, the former CTO of Turkcell was reported late last year to have said, “We hope to activate 500,000 users by the end of the year and we hope to have two million active users by the end of 2013.”
Of course, Turkey is well known as a hotbed of contactless and mobile payments but new quarterly figures, published by BKM (Interbank Card Center of Turkey), show just how well they are doing in the area of contactless card payments. Dr. Soner Canko, CEO of BKM, is reported to have said that, "the number of contactless cards had reached to 6.3 million in 2011 from 3.4 million in 2010 and now it reached to 10.3 million in 2012 following 61% increase. 1.4 million of them are prepaid debit cards whereas remaining 8.9 million are credit cards. It is possible to make contactless payments with 16% of 54 million credit cards that we use today." Further figures contained within the report show a very promising figure for the region in terms of contactless card usage and penetration. The volume for contactless cards has increased by 243% and has reached €50 million. Transactions with contactless cards, the total amount of which was 19 million Euro in 2011, have reached to 63 million Euro in 2012. When the distribution of contactless payments was further examined, it was found that two distinct areas took the lead. Supermarkets, of which 67% of the total amount of shopping was made with contactless cards, followed by dining payments, in at 14%.
This wasn't the only time we came across the magic number of 67% last week. That percentage figure cropped up again in another report by Strategy Analytics in their consumer survey, conducted in the US, UK and China. The survey showed that smartphone owners were much more likely than feature phone owners to use their devices either while shopping or for shopping. Usage at home demonstrated that smartphones are frequently used for research on products. Sixty one percent of smartphone owners use the device for shopping at home. Usage while out and about shows a very similar pattern to usage at home, although slightly more users overall have used their smartphone while out and about (67 percent compared to 61 percent). The least popular shopping activity on all devices is the actual point of purchase itself. Big difference between cards and mobiles then...
However, as the readers who are attending our conference 'Bringing Brands on Board' on the 30th April (click here for details) know, it is imperative that potential mobile payment makers become familiar with NFC and contactless technology. This is best done through a close relationship with agencies who then suggest incorporating the benefits of mobile into their clients campaigns. Weve seem to have gotten the message and have started the process last week with a breakfast at Ronnie Scotts in London.
Vodafone, O2 and EE sent their respective CEOs to the famous jazz club, hoping to excite the UK's advertising industry with the promise of SMS and banner deliveries across networks, with NFC capabilities to follow. The event was part of Advertising Week Europe, and the operators were pushing their cross-network advertising platform "Weve". Eventually, it will host pay-by-tap vouchers and cards based on NFC, but it is already powering SMS campaigns targeted on the location and profile of the 15 million customers who've opted in to receive messages. The operators are hoping that it will become the default platform for mobile advertising in the UK, and, eventually, the world. Next up will be video messaging and banner adverts on operator portals, followed by vouchers using NFC and, eventually, NFC payment applications such as credit cards and Oyster-style ticketing.
It is a good move on Weve's part to get agencies ready for even more NFC enabled phones. After all, the market looks very buoyant at the moment. Well, perhaps not for everyone. But NXP certainly had a good year: They shipped 125m NFC chips for smartphones and tablets in 2012, beating previous projections. The chip maker's figures received a boost when Samsung shipped 40m Galaxy S III smartphones equipped with NXP chips in the final six months of the year. Samsung is, however, believed to be using Broadcom NFC technology in the new Galaxy S4. The switch to the Broadcom NFC controller paired with the ST33 embedded smart card chip could be seen as a big loss for NXP, which had supplied Samsung with all of its NFC technology until recently. That includes the 40 million-plus unit shipments of the Galaxy S III, the popular predecessor to the forthcoming Galaxy S 4. In a statement to NFC Times, NXP noted that it is the co-inventor of NFC technology and had “known for years that other companies would follow us once the NFC market is ramping up,” said Jeff Miles, NXP’s head of mobile transactions, “And we also believe that a growing market actually needs more than one vendor,” he said. “But NXP is well positioned to continue its lead in this more competitive and growing market.”
Talking of leading a growing market, I am going to use my final paragraph to remind those finalists in this years Contactless and Mobile Awards (sponsored by Visa Europe) that the Industry Choice Award voting will open up on the 8th April (don't worry - we'll send you an email reminding you). It is open to all category finalists and the rules are very simple. You get as many people to go to the award page on our site and vote. It doesn't matter who they are: you, your colleges, your boss, even you mother! The winner will be the company who gets the greatest number of people to vote for them. Voting will start on the 8th April and end at midnight on the 19th April. The only thing to remember is one person - one vote. I can't wait!
There will be no news review next week as we incorporate the Easter Holidays. Normal service will resume on the 8th April.
Until then.
Regards,
Steve Atkins
Contactless Intelligence
This week on C-ITV
T-Mobile say Czech customers have embraced m-payments http://wp.me/p1Jrjn-1AR
67 percent of smartphone owners use devices for shopping http://wp.me/p1Jrjn-1As
Swap launches eWallet cloud solution http://wp.me/p1Jrjn-1Ao
Auriemma Consulting Group say mobile payment security is essential http://wp.me/p1Jrjn-1Ai
Atos Worldline is awarded for 'Pay with Finger' solution http://wp.me/p1Jrjn-1Ae
Belgian Mobile Wallet brings in-app commerce to merchants and consumers http://wp.me/p1Jrjn-1zG
Payments & m-Commerce
2013: The Breakout Year for Mobile Commerce http://bit.ly/YlCtWZ
Africa, the Case for Consumer Goods and Mobile Payments http://bit.ly/YlComc
Planet Payment Launches UnionPay Solution http://bit.ly/ZaM0PI
Mobile payments leaders battling it out in Europe http://bit.ly/ZaLZLC
Women bank on cheaper phones for easy payments http://bit.ly/15uRgC3
Nokia teams up with LevelUp to boost mobile payments http://nokia.ly/15uR5X7
Turkcell’s mobile payment system reaches 1m customers, says CIO Ilker Kuruöz http://bit.ly/ZaMchY
Mobile wallet technology raises privacy, security concerns http://bit.ly/ZaM8yM
Mobile Payments and Banking - The 'Real' Security Riskhttp://bit.ly/ZaMdm5
Vodafone Italy has more than 200,000 users of mobile wallet http://bit.ly/15uRIQG
Korean banks launch NFC payments service http://bit.ly/WDwb7F
Cashless in Southwark - but where is my watch? http://bit.ly/15uS9ub
Walmart inches toward mobile checkout with Scan & Go app for iPhone http://bit.ly/15uRQzt
Canada's merchants wary of mobile-payment costs http://bit.ly/15uSop5
Banco Sabadell pilots NFC payments in Spainhttp://bit.ly/15uT5in
Mobile payments firm Droplet launches in London with new developer tools and retailer support http://tnw.co/15uSL2Y
Is NFC Finally Becoming Mobile's Next Big Thing? http://on.wsj.com/15uSEof
Mobile wallet technology raises privacy, security concerns http://bit.ly/Y37HFT
MasterCard adds mobile receipt application to Smart Data http://bit.ly/Y37JxB
Visa chief: Fee on digital wallets seems 'appropriate' http://cnet.co/Y37G4I
Turkey sees strong contactless card take-up http://bit.ly/Y37C58
Mobile payments show signs of taking off in US http://bit.ly/Y38ff4
The New Ecosystem for Mobile: Technology Alliances for M-Payments and M-Banking http://ubm.io/Y3896V
Interchange Fees Are For Suckers: LevelUp Hints At The Future Of Mobile Payments http://onforb.es/Y37ORS
Companies bet on 'mobile wallet' adoption http://bit.ly/Y38lmN
Mobile money network targets Pakistan’s unbanked http://bit.ly/Y38iaC
Heartland Payment Systems® and LevelUp on a Mission http://mwne.ws/Y38gzy
NFC & Mobile
Samsung Chooses Broadcom NFC Chip over NXP; Embedded
Strategy Begins to Take Shape http://bit.ly/YlCw5b
Sony adds Xperia SP and Xperia L NFC phones http://bit.ly/ZaLQbf
NXP beats NFC forecast http://bit.ly/ZaLQYI
Lenovo bringing contactless payments to certain NFC-enabled ThinkPads in 2013 http://engt.co/YlCMkB
How NFC Connects The Real World With The Virtual World http://soc.att.com/Y3uweI
Telecom Italia tests NFC food deliveries http://bit.ly/Y3ut2G
Transportation, Ticketing, Access, Security & Loyalty
Mobile kingpins to marketing mavens: Bonking is brilliant, wanna try? http://bit.ly/Y37Au1
Mobile coupons enter grocery aisleshttp://bit.ly/Y37nHd
New NFC Tag Campaign Rollouts, Partnerships, May Signal Uptake in UK Market http://bit.ly/YlCv14
Canada: Compass smart card can’t prevent fraud, police sayhttp://bit.ly/YlCJVO
RTA's "eWallet" makes payment easy for business http://bit.ly/YlCGJy
DC Metro Wants Smarter Fare Card, Including FarePhones http://wny.cc/YlCEl9
Whoosh! – Parkeon’s mobile phone parking service goes live http://bit.ly/YlCASt
The Evolving Context-Aware Ecosystem: Location, Proximity & Privacy http://bit.ly/Y3udRj
DC Metro Wants Smarter Fare Card, Including FarePhones http://wny.cc/YlCEl9
Researchers present Inverse Reader Mode concept for NFC ticketing http://bit.ly/Y3tD5U
Bill Ford (yes, that Ford) invests in public transit, backing mobile ticketing firm Masabi http://bit.ly/15uSf5b
The Future of Contactless Payment for Open-Loop Transit to Be Discussed at CARTES America http://bit.ly/15uTj93
Other News & Opinion Articles
Consumers use their smartphones in-store for research, not payment http://bit.ly/Y38mY0
Smart-Card Chipmakers Said to Face European Antitrust Complaints http://bloom.bg/16Jfv2H
Beyond NFC and QR, the next m-payment acronym might be BLE http://bit.ly/Y3uljw
Cash or card? Soon we'll be paying by handshake http://bit.ly/Y3tmQk
RFID: ‘Contactless’ or clueless? http://bit.ly/ZaM4iD
Gemalto Sees Future in Platforms and Services, Including TSM Business http://bit.ly/YlCytC
FIS Completes Acquisition of mFoundry http://bit.ly/YlCn1n
Watchdata’s SIMpassTM solution selected as the finalist for 2013 Contactless & Mobile Awards http://bit.ly/15uRvgo
Spindle Announces Closing of MeNetwork Acquisition http://mwne.ws/Y37Lp3
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