Smart Technologies Blog

Visa CEO, Charlie Scharf, indicates fees for PayPal

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:51:00 +0000

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Visa CEO, Charlie Scharf, indicates fees for PayPal

Visa chief executive Charlie Scharf has indicated that he will follow the lead of rival MasterCard and introduce a 'digital wallet' fee on firms such as PayPal.
Earlier this year MasterCard gave notice that from this summer it plans to start charging a fee on 'staged' digital wallets such as PayPal, Google Wallet and Square.

According to Reuters, when asked yesterday if Visa was planning to follow suit, Scharf told the Barclays Emerging Payments Forum: "I think it is totally......... to read the full Finextra web article click here

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of smart card and NFC technologies. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits please see www.consultingsmart.co.uk or email us at info@consultingsmart.co.uk.

Consulting Smart confirmed speakers at NFC Payments Global Summit 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:22:00 +0000

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Come and meet Consulting Smart at...

Steve Beecroft will be talking about another 'industry first' by Consulting Smart at the NFC Global Payments Summit 2013 on Thursday March 21st in London.

Steve led the development and implementation of the first NFC open wallet for American Express, in partnership with ISIS. Not only did this put American Express at the forefront of NFC development, 3 months after the pilot roll out, transactions are growing at a rate of 300% a month. To receive a copy of the presentation used by Steve on the day click here

Want to know more about possibilities and potential pitfalls of NFC wallets? Contact sbeecroft@consultingsmart.co.uk

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of smart card and NFC technologies. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits please see www.consultingsmart.co.uk or email us at info@consultingsmart.co.uk

Turkcell’s mobile payment reach 1m customers

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:29:00 +0000

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With the initial success of Turkcell’s mobile wallet, the company is talking about international alliances, says CIO Ilker Kuruöz. It already sells its software to other operators, he tells Alan Burkitt-Gray

Turkcell’s mobile payment reach 1m customers

The time to get innovations to market is one of the big headaches for chief information officers like Ilker Kuruöz of Turkcell. “We have a lot of issues around time to market— and the whole industry is struggling with the challenge of coming up with new services in order to generate new revenues.” Turkcell is taking on the challenge — and doing more, by selling some of its products to other telecoms operators.

The whole industry, says Kuruöz, who has been chief information and communication officer at Turkcell since September 2009, is looking for new services to generate revenue as traditional sources — voice and text messages — go into long-term decline. “We are losing ground in voice and SMS. “We’re looking at areas such as mobile finance, and entertainment services such as IPTV and mobile TV, which provide valuable content to our customers on multiple screens.” Turkcell already has an active mobile payment system, a project called Turkcell Cüzdan, Turkish for “wallet”, in October 2012 with the aid of Garanti Bank and MasterCard. Cenk Bayrakdar, the CTO of Turkcell who introduced the service, has now left the group and is starting a venture capital company, says Kuruöz. “The project has been successful,” he adds. “It has been one of the most advanced mobile payment solutions. So far we have reached almost a million customers and 400,000 credit cards are linked to people’s mobile wallets.”

Those figures indicate that the project appears to be running ahead of expectations. When Bayrakdar spoke to Global Telecoms Business in late 2012 he 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.” Now, Kuruöz says of Turkcell Cüzdan: “We are pushing hard for penetration and increasing transactions.”

Credit card link
The company is promoting two separate solutions, he adds. “We have payment from the bill, which is a micro-payment solution, or if you attach your credit card to your mobile wallet, the limit is your credit card limit. If you have the limit, you can go to as much as you like.” And the system is being accepted, he says. “It’s getting more and more traction.”
The idea of offering Turkcell Cüzdan as a managed service for other operators — suggested in the GTB interview by Bayrakdar — is still being considered, says Kuruöz. “We are still in discussions with other operators on the opportunities. And we are is talks with a couple of global players about extending the partnership to other countries.”
What does the term “global players” mean? Credit card companies? Kuruöz smiles and says: “This is something we can’t say.” But the experience in Turkey has been good so far, with penetration increasing and the number of transactions increasing. “We have a couple of new features coming in that will increase the volume of transactions.” Again, he’s unwilling to share details at the moment. “It will be a surprise,” says Kuruöz. The wallet at the moment supports transactions based on NFC — near-field communications — which allows users to make a payment by tapping a terminal at the check-out. “Many cafés and small restaurants already support NFC transactions,” he explains.

Web transactions
“But the biggest potential is in e-commerce,” says Kuruöz. By this he means web-based transactions where — in most parts of the world — people type in their credit card numbers to complete payment and buy books, tickets for travel or events, music, groceries or other goods and services. “You can type in your telephone number without giving your credit card number,” says Kuruöz. “It’s much more secure than using your credit card. Would you prefer giving your phone number to the e-commerce merchant or your credit card — and you give your phone number anyway, because they ask for your shipping address and phone number.”
The website has to be enabled to accept a transaction via Turkcell phone number, he confirms. Amazon does not yet have a Turkish service, but the system is being used by local online shopping sites, he says. “Many of the leading e-commerce sites in Turkey support our payment solution.”

Kuruöz takes a wide technical responsibility for the systems at Turkcell, including the OSS and BSS that are linked to e-payment services. His responsibilities at the company are “much wider than OSS”, he says. “I’m CIO and my responsibilities cover BSS, OSS, plus value added services, ERP and all IT.” And that includes services to the consumer such as the mobile wallet service.

Turkcell — which operates in eight countries and territories in addition to Turkey — has its own billing solution, says Kuruöz, who used to be a divisional manager at Garanti Technology, part of Garanti bank, and a senior manager at Accenture.
The mobile wallet is integrated with the charging system and the billing system, says Kuruöz. “Turkcell is one of the leading operators. We have 35 million subscribers in Turkey and 68 million in total. Around 38% are postpaid.”

The company is “heavily investing in charging capabilities” and the focus at the moment is real-time charging. Most operators have separate charging systems, one of prepay customers and one for postpaid customers, “but we in the process of merging them into a single solution to do real-time charging”.

Parallel running
When Global Telecoms Business was interviewing Kuruöz at Mobile World Congress the company was running the old systems and the new merged system in parallel. “We have completed the project and we are doing the quality verification at the moment. To provide a superior customer experience we believe that giving real-time charging to our postpaid customers is critical — for them to get real-time notification of when their packages expire.”
Other features that the system will provide will reduce the incident of bill shock when Turkcell’s customers are roaming, he adds. “If you don’t have real-time charging it is impossible to do this.”

This is all becoming more and more important as the number of devices proliferates, he adds.
“We all have phones and tablets and dongles, and it’s critical to share your package and keep control on spending,” he says. Turkcell is working with Ericsson on the charging solution, using its internal technology division.

The parallel running is scheduled to run a few more months before Kuruöz is happy that it is operating satisfactorily and is confident enough in the system. “We are planning to cut over in the third quarter,” he says. “This will be a big transformation. ”It’s a challenge, he admitted at MWC. “We’ve been doing the parallel running for about a month.” So far there have been few problems, but the company has to migrate “more than 3,000” service options from the old systems to the new one. “We are having to re-test all scenarios.” The parallel running will highlight inconsistencies and there will, no doubt, have to be a few fixes to the software. “We are working hard. ”It’s a first, says Kuruöz. “Ericsson doesn’t have any such previous example” of a combined real-time charging system for prepaid and postpaid customers. “We are the first.” However, Turkcell has already started using some of the functions that the new system provides — such as notifications to customers.

Integrated CRM
It’s not the only advanced software development going on in Turkcell, adds Kuruöz. The team is also working on an advanced customer relationship management system to integrate fixed and mobile services. “We are trying to build a solution to integrate mobile and fixed customers, from lead generation to order fulfilment.” It’s already being tested by using Turkcell’s own staff. “We are creating mobility for our teams in the field,” says Kuruöz. “We are giving tablets to our sales executives and to our corporate sales team. This is a good example of how to use mobile technology.” Having completed this first step, “we are getting feedback from the field”, says Kuruöz. This is an internal project, he adds, using Turkcell Technology’s 750 engineers, developing OSS/BSS solutions as well as services and products. But Turkcell does sell its technology to other operators, he adds — naming Zain and TeliaSonera as customers for some of its products.

For more information please see the original article by Alan Burkitt-Gray dated 18 March 2013 http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/3174379/Regions/25187/Turkcells-mobile-payment-system-reaches-1m-customers-says-CIO-Ilker-Kuruz.html

Have you read this article and now need more information about our services then please click www.consultingsmart.co.uk or contact the author sbeecroft@consultingsmart.co.uk.

Is Nice the Smartest City in the World? - Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:31:00 +0000

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This is the concluding part of our research into the innovative Near Field Communications programme implemented in the French city of Nice. To read the first part published 6th July 2010 please click here

Airport

Technically this is not part of the Cityzi scheme but it is possible for a CAP member to use the same NFC enabled mobile phone for both schemes.

In the very first trial of NFC technology in air travel anywhere in the world, frequent flyers with Air France using the Nice-Paris Orly domestic route and Members of Nice Airport's passenger programme Club Airport Premier (CAP) took part in a pilot to validate the use the technology for paperless ticket and boarding pass.

The “Pass and Fly” pilot, as it was known, provided more accurate and faster MI whilst improving and speeding up the customer experience. It also required less manual effort and thus has the potential to deliver savings and efficiency gains for the airline and the airport operator.

This innovative pilot project that began in April 2009 and concluded in October 2009, is a collaboration between Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and Air France, who have partnered with IER, the supplier of the NFC enabled sticker for a similar pilot by Air New Zealand, and Amadeus. Both Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and Air France have since adopted the technology and offer it as a core service.

IER built NFC kiosks readers are integrated with the airport's infrastructure and interfaced with Air France's passenger management system.

Amadeus supply the software for the mobile phones, departure control system and airport readers, which captures and displays information relevant to the customers progress through the departure process.

Air France have issued Nokia 6212 handsets to some CAP members and NFC stickers to others. The stickers provide a non NFC mobile phone with NFC capability and thus allow the customer to join the programme and enjoy the benefits of the new service.

Once registered for the service, CAP members with their “Pass and Fly” enabled mobile phone check in through either the internet, mobile phone, self-service channel at the airport. Once checked in the customer swipes their NFC enabled mobile phone across a reader to download the electronic IATA compatible boarding pass.

Then the customer is fast tracked through security checks control by waving the mobile phone across the NFC reader which links to the Airlines passenger information and displays the boarding pass to the security staff without the need for the customer to display their mobile phone screen.. In fact the mobile phone does not even need to be switched on. The same process is followed for boarding where a voucher is printed with seat details.

As an additional functionality the CAP members also accrue loyalty points via the use of the NFC mobile phone during this process which the Airline is using to incentivise customers to drive take-up.

If the Airline operated a “free sea\ting” policy or equipped the cabin crew with powered hand held readers, this would result in a completely paperless journey.

Feedback from customers has been very positive with the key benefits being speed of transit through the airport, easy to use, convenient not to have to handle paper, and elimination of delays due to lost / misplaced tickets / boarding cards.

For the Airline, they have more satisfied customers, and reduce costs. Whilst the airport can keep queues to a minimum which also reduces security and health and safety risks. .

Compared the mobile boarding pass solution that uses 2-D barcodes as used in New Zealand and elsewhere, NFC is more efficient in terms of speed of transaction and as the phone does not require power it less prone to errors and delays. However, in this deployment, it does not provide a completely paperless process yet.

Smart Muse, Access to Information

The Smart Muse proof of concept project provides a number of NFC enabled services to patrons of the museum the best example is in the Centre Pompidou, an art museum in Paris, and “Walking Tours” of the Old City of Nice. However Nice have already made it clear that they fully intend to rollout the solution to their own museums as soon as they have positive feedback from their own project along with that from the one at the Centre Pompidou.

Visitors to the museum are provided, free of charge, with an NFC Wave-Me™- enabled handset using software from Inside Contactless, which is hosted by ConnecThings, a who specialise in the provision of contextualized location and time based content management systems (CMS),

The handset, supplied by Sagem, is then used to gain access to information about a particular exhibit simply by holding it close to an NFC tag in a poster or label situated adjacent to the exhibit itself. The smart tag has a Unique Identifier (UID) this is read by the handset and then communicated to the CMS over a wireless connection. The information about that exhibit is then sent back to visitor via the handset’s screen in a language of their choice.

The Hand set is a two way communication device and so can also be used to send visitor feedback to the Curators and museum manager about a exhibits or the visitors general experience.

To get benefit beyond the actual visit to the museum the visitor can register interest in a particular artist or exhibit and receive further information, videos etc via e-mail or even their Facebook page.

The scheme at the Centre Pompidou has received c450€ funding from France's Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment which equates to around 30 percent of the total development and deployment cost of more than 1.5M€. The remainder will be funded by the consortium partners who are essentially donating their expertise, software and hardware. It is not clear if the implementation in Nice will receive similar funding.

Cultural Events – Information Dissemination

Local residents and visitors to the Old City of Nice are able to obtain information about local events, cultural and activities by presenting their NFC enabled mobile phone to the Cityzi branded signposts with NFC chips. The vast majority of these signposts are part of the walking tour scheme and so this is an effective use of existing infrastructure.

Retailers

As part of the payment application a number of retailers including Carrefour, E.Leclerc Intermarché, and several town-center merchants have signed up for the scheme to accept payment by NFC device

Jewelry retailer Cléor are piloting an innovative inventory tracking window, using RFID. Each item has an RFID tag and there are proximity readers on the window access area, when an item passes through this area it is added or removed from the store’s inventory as appropriate. This speeds up stock management and can also trigger the ordering of new stock. By logging the date and time an item is added or removed from the window display it is also seen as a deterrent to staff theft.

There are also other applications being planned like the Real time inventory management, display, anti theft system, location, and customer loyalty for textile and clothing shops, and the RFID logistic chains for meat to allow real time traceability, already being used across Europe by the larger supermarkets.

University

The Nice Future Campus project allows c300 students at the Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis campus to use NFC-enabled phones for a variety of services both on and off campus.

This is a fairly comprehensive scheme with a budget of c2M€ involving 7 key supplier partners delivering several applications including payment, transport, access control, student life (ticketing) and targeted promotional offers

Over a 2 year period the scheme has introduced 3 different Mobile handsets and 4 NFC stickers to enable non NFC mobile phones 3 NFC devices

Employee ID & Access

Businesses in Nice are able to use the infrastructure that the City is putting in place, and such application way is for staff ID and access. The Gemalto provided MoBEMo contactless badge allows employees to use their own NFC enabled phone for Access Control and to make cafeteria payments. Cassis International is developing a system allowing NFC phone holders to access tickets and coupons via a Web-based server.

Home Help Time & attendance & Payment

This is a mobile home-help payment system which replaces paper cheques., RFID tags in name badges communicate with the mobile devices to log in hours and claim payments

The Nice scheme has been described as the "dress rehearsal" for

a nationwide NFC rollout in 2011.

Have you read this article and now need more information on smartcard, mobile or NFC technologies? If so click www.consultingsmart.co.uk or contact the author sbeecroft@consultingsmart.co.uk

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of smart card and NFC technologies. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits please seewww.consultingsmart.co.ukor email us atinfo@consultingsmart.co.uk

12 More NFC / RFID Projects Announced for France

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:28:00 +0000

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As a follow up to my blog post "Is Nice the Smartest City in the World" of 6th July 2010, I can confirm that we have been made aware of an announcement by Christian Estrosi, the French Minister for Industry and the Mayor of Nice, details of a further twelve NFC and RFID projects. Estrosi also confirmed combined funding of €4.5 million from the French government for the new projects..

The successful projects include applications in the trade, tourism, health and homecare services, sustainable development and consumer services. They include:

· M_Stadium. France Telecom plans to develop a range of NFC services for stadium events including paperless tickets, accreditation and interactive labels scattered in and around the stadiums.

· NFC-TTH. SNCF Proximités plans to develop a range of services transport and tourism for handicapped travellers using NFC, RFID and geolocation services.

· Onco-Trace. Creative Eurecom aims to use RFID and NFC technology to improve the way in which patients receiving chemotherapy treatments are monitored, both in hospitals and in the home.

· Self Scan Mobile. Keyneosoft is to develop a service to enable self scan retail checkouts to be replaced with NFC mobile phones, including integrating the service with mobile shopping lists, couponing and payments functions.

· Shop'N'more. Laser Loyalty is to develop an NFC-based multi-brand loyalty and promotions system.

· Alice. Mindscape has received funding to develop a B2B2C service platform using the Nabaztag RFID rabbit.

· Autopartage. A car sharing application proposed by Continental Automotive aims to increase the use of car sharing services using NFC technology.

· Barfid. Systerel plans to use RFID technology to develop a new type of level crossing barrier that will provide a higher level of safety for uses of rail crossings.

· Confiance. Extelia is to develop a trusted third party platform designed specifically to meet the needs of the service sector, making it easier to handle the service billing process.

Our eternal thanks go to Sarah Clarke of www.nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com for her original post

Contactless payments – just hype or the real deal

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:06:00 +0000

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By Steve Beecroft

Regulars to this blog, our clients and my peers within the payments industry will know only too well how positive I am towards contactless technology. Having designed and implemented several contactless schemes including NFC I consider myself an advocate of this now fully emerged, technology.

However, like any professional I always look to deliver the the most appropriate guidance to our clients and sometimes that means recommending clients do not to adopt a particular technology. This is something we did through our sporting venues division 'Smart Stadia Ltd, when a football club from West Yorkshire asked for assistance in defining the best next steps in their modernisation project.

Do we regret doing this ...... NO, it was what the client needed but not necessarily what they wanted to hear but is was absolutely the right thing for them. That was back in March this year and I have since had a call from the clubs Chief Executive thanking me for our ethical approach and inviting Smart Stadia Ltd to lead the next phase of their modernisation project for multi-application season ticket. Even if we had not had that call we would still be very happy that we had given appropriate advice that was in the best interests of the client.

It is our unshakable belief that we all need a balanced view, with this in mind I attach below an article on www.mobile-financial.com

Research from Datamonitor, a market analyst firm, suggests that the much hyped contactless payment market may be a long way off from becoming the norm in the UK despite trials by various retailers.

The research* from the independent market analyst has revealed that despite the huge potential market open to contactless payments the economic downturn has delayed issuers other than Barclaycard from investing in the technology as they just haven’t been able to spend money on it. Meanwhile many retailers are not sure yet if contactless is worth the investment.

Gilles Ubaghs, financial analyst at Datamonitor said: “Retailers could likely find the cash if they were convinced it was worthwhile, but many don’t seem sure there is any real point. Essentially it is a catch 22 as many consumers aren’t interested in having a contactless payment card when there are still so few places to use it and retailers don’t want to install the technology as so few people have a card.”

However, Datamonitor does believe that there are promising long term signs that the technology could take off but it won’t be as soon as many analysts predict.

Mr Ubaghs continued “Although contactless payments have been around for nearly 10 years, Barclaycard and London’s Oyster travel card remain the only two high profile companies to offer contactless cards. Investment by other issuers is needed, not only in the technology itself but in educating consumers as well. Consumers will need to be convinced that it is worth their while to use the new technology”

“Importantly, for consumers to be sold on using contactless payments retailers and issuers will need to work together and as this is yet to happen on a large scale. It will be a good deal of time before we’re able to walk into any shop and buy a chocolate bar in the same way as London commuters tap their Oyster cards.”

For the original article click here

French Minister of Industry Confirms Support for NFC Cities

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:37:00 +0000

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By Dan Balaban

Christian Estrosi, France’s minister of industry, has confirmed government support for three to five more cities to launch NFC services in France next year, following the precommercial NFC launch in Nice this spring.

Estrosi, who spoke at a conference Tuesday in Paris, has called on interested city officials and transit authorities in France to declare their intent to become one of the next tier of cities to host contactless-mobile services.

The additional cities would launch NFC sometime in 2011. Estrosi, who is also mayor of Nice, sees the additional cities as the second phase of what he hopes will be a broad deployment of NFC in France. He believes government help for up to five more cities to launch NFC will encourage other French cities to follow. That could lead to national rollouts in 2012, according to the vision.

The three to five cities are to be announced in December. Frontrunners are the cities of Caen and Strasbourg. Both have played host to multiple NFC trials in the past and city officials in both places have expressed strong interest in the technology. Officials in Bordeaux are also keen for the technology, said observers, and the city is also a favorite. Other cities mentioned are Rennes in Brittany, Marseille, Lyon and Grenoble.

Paris is also in the running, but it seems unlikely NFC will launch in the capital until 2012, although observers do expect some smaller projects in Paris next year. Key will be when STIF, the giant transit authority serving Paris and the surrounding region, acts on its plans to put its Navigo contactless ticketing application on NFC phones. A STIF representative did not attend the conference, which was co-organized by the government-funded NFC coordinating organization, Forum des Services Mobile sans Contact.

Like Nice, the three to five cities are expected to host such NFC services as contactless-mobile ticketing and related service discovery, mobile payment, and applications involving mobile tourism and health care. These services would be delivered by transit operators, banks and other service providers.

It remains to be seen how large the projects will become. In Nice, the country’s three major mobile operators, France Telecom-Orange, SFR and Bouygues, plus a mobile virtual network operator NRJ Mobile, have reportedly put only a little more than 3,000 NFC phones on sale.

That number could grow based on demand. And a representative of Orange, speaking at the conference Tuesday, confirmed the telco’s plans to sell 500,000 NFC phones in France by the end of 2011.

It’s unclear exactly what type of support the government will offer to the additional cities it selects to host the NFC services. Some funding is likely, along with indirect support.

The French government is also offering grants to some private companies for development work on NFC. Overall, the government, along with French telcos and some service providers have cast France as a leader in NFC technology. The French government also sees NFC as a promising industry for French vendors.

Thanks to NFC Times

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of smart card and NFC technologies. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits please seewww.consultingsmart.co.ukor email us atinfo@consultingsmart.co.uk

Dutch Banks and Telcos to Move Forward on M-Payment Project

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:25:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

By Dan Balaban

Three major Dutch banks and three mobile operators have decided to move forward with planning for an NFC mobile-payment launch in the Netherlands, NFC Times has learned.

The three Dutch banks, Rabobank, ING and ABN Amro; and three telcos, KPN, Vodafone Netherlands and Rabo Mobiel; gave the project the green light at a meeting June 28, following months of discussions, NFC Times has learned. The approval clears a major hurdle for the initiative and means the parties intend to move forward to lay the groundwork for a likely launch sometime in 2011–probably in the latter half of the year, sources told NFC Times.

But the parties are not releasing any details until they announce their plans, expected in a month or two. Representatives from KPN, Rabobank and ING, believed to be the most active members of the group, all issued nearly identical statements to requests for comment from NFC Times about the mobile-payment project.

“We are currently looking into the..................to read the full article click here

Is Nice the Smartest City in the World? - Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:12:00 +0000

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By Steve Beecroft

Smart Technologies Consultant

Consulting Smart Ltd

The French city of Nice, which sits overlooking the tranquil waters of the Mediterranean Sea, was for many years an Italian dominion and became part of France in 1860. France’s fifth largest city Nice is widely believed to be one of the oldest human settlements in the world, so leading from the front and embracing change is embedded deep in the soul of the city.

This background have created a city that seeks continuous development and improvement. So the emergence of a new and innovative technology that delivers efficiencies for the local administration or provide a richer experience for citizens and visitors is almost always explored. Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) technologies are providing the city of Nice the opportunity to again look at improving the lives of the people that live and visit the city. These technologies include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and contactless Integrated Circuit (IC) chips, like those used in contactless payment cards. When coupled with a Human Interface Device (HID) such as a smart card or mobile phone, both of which are common place in a modern thriving environment, thee technologies can provide a large number of benefits to service providers and service users.

Now Nice is fast gaining a reputation of being a leader in the adoption of new technologies and could well be renamed NFC City such is its appetite to exploit the 360̊ benefits of the technology.

Amongst the Smart Technologies industry London is widely acclaimed the title holder for most technically advanced European city, however Nice is now fast catching up. The recent lull in activity in London and the UK’s seemingly reluctance to fully embrace NFC, and the increased momentum that technology is experiencing, has seen Nice overtake London. Well that is the view of many industry consultants, mostly French consultants it has to be said. Nonetheless they may well be right

Let’s explore some of the recent smart card, mobile and NFC technologies that have been deployed in and around.

Nice, Mobile Contactless City, The Multi- application Scheme

Private sector suppliers Gemalto, a world leader in digital security, Crédit Mutuel-CIC and NRJ Mobile have joined forces to offer contactless mobile payment services as part of the “Nice, mobile contactless city” project. Backed by the French government this project builds on the success for similar contactless payment rollouts in both Caen and Strasburg.

The scheme also includes a number of service providers including local transport in the form of busses and trams, banks, museums, restaurants, supermarkets and local retailers. Information dissemination services will also be available at the museum and university campus via smart posters.

Crédit Mutuel-CIC, the first French bank to launch a mobile banking service, are acting as the payment services provider, NRJ Mobile supplying the NFC enabled mobile phones and telecommunications company Orange will provide mobile services. This allows users to pay for goods and services using contactless, tap n’ go, technology in total confidence, thanks to the dedicated Trusted Services Management module that Gemalto are providing Crédit Mutuel-CIC with.

The scheme will be part of the newly created Cityzi brand name. It is based on an open platform and is governed by a set or technical specifications enabling easy participation for local service providers and retailers. Participants in the scheme can publicise the level of their involvement with a full set of marketing material including a set of Cityzi logos as follows:-

Four logos are available in all:

A logo which shows a service or a contactless mobile device is compatible with AFSCM specifications.

A 'ici Cityzi' ('Cityzi here') logo displayed prominently — in doorways and on cashtills, in the same way as card acceptance logos — in all places where Cityzi services can be used.

A target mark, to show consumers where to hold their device when interacting with a Cityzi service via a poster, billboard or other NFC-enabled object.

An icon displayed on the consumer's mobile device, allowing quick access to the list of Cityzi applications stored on the handset

The initiative is being led by Christian Estrosi, Nice City Council’s, deputy mayor, and is designed to interface with Trusted Service Partner platforms in an open environment. It also complies with the latest European Payment Council (EPC) GSMA standards and will enable the secure, over the air communications..

Whilst the Caen and Strasburg initiatives precede the Nice project they are both smart card schemes so this makes the carefully planned and well phase implemented Nice NFC project the first of its type in Europe and almost certainly the largest.

Public Transport

Veolia, the public transport operator for the Nice Côte-d'Azur urban area, and ConnecThings, location based information provider, have partnered to transform the travel experience of commuters, locals and visitors.

Again some central government funding has been made available for the development abd delivery of Veolia’s BPass+ facility which offer a method of storing and renewing a transport ticketing on an NFC phone.

Initially c3,000 residents will be able to pay for tram and bus tickets using NFC phones or via a 2D barcode.

In the second phase of this project du for launch in Summer 2010 ConnecThings are equipping around 1,500 bus and tram stops with NFC technology, allowing transport users to download travel information direct to their NFC enabled mobile phone

Cycle Rides / Walking tours

Nice is said to be the first city in the world where NFC technology will be deployed within a city area for tourist information.

An application launched earlier this year, the NFC Tour Guide of the old city centre, allows visitors to the old city to borrow one of 100 Sagem phones from tourist counters or city offices. Those that already own an NFC enabled mobile are also able to access the service via that handset Alternatively

The city have installed RFID tags with InsideContactless NFC chips to Cityzi branded signposts or walls near a number of attractions, such as museums and galleries. Tourists taking the walking tour of the old city access information about each site they visit based on the tags they wave the phones next to.

It works by the mobile phone detecting the NFC tag, and then downloads the site relevant information from the InsideContactless software running on a server, via the NFC tag. that information at each site also recommends the next site the visitor should visit and provides directions. This helps the visitor to get the most from the walking tour and promotes the old city.

There is even a facility for the visitor to leave feedback on the site or the walking tour in that form of text comments or via the old city’s Facebook site.

To generate some revenue and help fund the maintenance and replacement of the handsets, there is the opportunity for local businesses to advertise their services. By restricting the advertising to local businesses Nice is protecting its investment in regeneration and ensuring the sustainability of the scheme.

Parking

Smart Park, from Monext and VinciPark, provide a richer and more convenient parking experience by implementing cashless and contactless payment, season ticket / membership management, loyalty, GPS functionality and other value added services.

Part Two to follow with NFC developments in Air Travel, Culture, Retail, University and more

Location Based Services

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 05:08:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

By Steve Beecroft,

What is LBS – from Wikipedia

A location-based services (LBS) is an information and entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilising the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device.

Location Based Service can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, work, personal life, etc. LBS services include services to identify a location of a person or object, such as discovering the nearest banking cash machine or the whereabouts of a friend or employee. LBS services include parcel tracking and vehicle tracking services. LBS can include mobile commerce when taking the form of Discount coupons, vouchers or advertising directed at customers based on their current location. They include personalised weather services and even location-based games. They are an example of telecommunication convergence.

Examples of LBS we use today

Location based information

One example would be someone using their Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) enabled mobile phone to search for a local service of retailer. Flook is one such service provider, you simply select the service you wish to search for pres go and you are presented with all the matches in your locality.

Global Positioning Service (GPS) can be found in over 12 million vehicles in the UK and almost half of them regularly subscribe to traffic news. Enabling their GPS device to accept updates of traffic delays and re-plan the fastest / shortest route based on those updates.

Location based billing

Billing is also a big application for Location Based Services if you have ever travelled abroad and uses your mobile phone to call home or worse surfed the web, then you will know firsthand how LBS can provide variable tariffs based on your location.

Emergency services

Mobile operators are regularly asked by the emergency services to assist them locate the location of a mobile phone at the time a call was made. Even when the phone is switched off it is possible to locate is whereabouts, how many times have you left you phone on silent and then misplaced it? Sadly this is not a service that is available to you or I so next time just call MI5.

Tracking

Fleet applications typically entail tracking vehicles for purposes of the owning company knowing the whereabouts of the vehicle and/or operator. Every security van in the UK has a location device on board. In fact some insurance companies insist on one being fitted to a precious marquee before they will even consider insuring the vehicle.

But how can LBS Loyalty / Discount help your business?

An LBS voucher scheme is more effective as it enables you to make offers to prospective customers that are in your location real time. Customers that you have not yet traded with and whose details you don’t have. Then if and when they come to transact with you not only do you have increased revenue but you also have the details of a new customer, providing you capture their details as part of the sales process or perhaps you own loyalty scheme, and thus a new customer to market to.

The best part is that the first transaction that the new customer does with you is part of an offer which creates a feeling of good value. Existing customers see that you are embracing technology and making it easier for them to save money with you.

Increases revenue
Builds your customer database
Greater loyalty from existing customers
Is outsourced service so enable you to concentrate on running your business
Helps you control stock better
Provides richer experience for the customer
Saves the customer money
Most such services are free for the customer to register

Why should I consider LBS Loyalty / Discount?

Customers with iPhones, Andriod and regular WAP enabled mobile phones are all capable of joining such a scheme. That’s covers about 70% of the UK’s population. The service providers are there with Flook, Vooch, My Vouchers and even the credit card transaction processors are moving in this direction. In 2011 we will see this service being offered to selected Visa and MasterCard customers and American Express is due to follow early 2012.

However the smaller local retailers that adopt early will be the real winners especially during a recession when we all like to think we are getting good value.

Digital marketing research firm InsightExpress found that mobile ad campaign norms were four-and-a-half to five times more effective than online norms. Read the full report Click Here

Joining these schemes is relatively inexpensive, does not take too much time and moreover you don’t have to be a former NASA scientist to understand how it all works. So My advice to all local, national regional and global businesses is take a look and run a little pilot to see the benefits for your business.

About the Author – A regular commentator and conference speaker Steve is widely regarded as a trusted advisor on Payment, Pre-payment and Multi-application Smartcards to a range of clients in the Financial Services, Multi-purpose / Sports Venues and Tourism industries. He also works closely with Central Government and Local Authorities. He has been described as a world authority one emerging smart technologies.

Steve recently completed an assignment with Visa Europe where he delivered the Service Model (Operational Scheme Design) for a Loyalty Programme. He sees Location Based Services as one of the more effective marketing channels for retailers and businesses alike.

For more information on LBS and how Consulting Smart Ltd an help your business email info@consultingsmart.co.uk

Contactless now at Critical Mass in UK

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:37:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

By Dan Balaban

UK-based Barclays bank and its credit-card arm, Barclaycard, will have issued a total of 20 million contactless debit and credit cards by the end of 2011, predicted James McDonald, head of strategic innovation programs for Barclaycard, who said he believes there will be “many millions” of contactless transactions in the United Kingdom next year.

The bank, which is almost single-handedly driving the UK’s contactless rollout, will have issued a total of 12 million debit and credit cards by the end of this year, accounting for nearly all contactless cards on issue in the UK by year's end, McDonald said. But he expects such other British banks as Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Lloyds TSB to become more active in the rollout by next year, for a total 30 million British contactless bank cards issued by the end of 2011. Barclays and Barclaycard have issued a combined 7 million debit and credit cards since launching the rollout in September of 2007.

McDonald, speaking this week at the Contactless Cards and Payments conference in London organized by SMi, also predicted merchant acceptance would “dramatically increase” over the next 18 months. With more and more contactless cards in circulation, merchants, including big supermarket chains, are becoming interested, said McDonald, who works for Barclaycard’s merchant acquiring business.

“Those conversations (with merchants) are very different now than they were last year,” he told the conference. “We do believe large retailers will follow. There is a big tipping point coming up next year.”

But he declined to name large merchants he believes will accept contactless payment by next year.

There are about 24,000 merchant locations equipped to accept contactless payment in the UK, from dual-interface EMV cards with either a Visa payWave or MasterCard PayPass application onboard. While only a quarter of these locations are in London, they have accounted for 82% of transactions to date, McDonald said.

Most of the transactions are with small- to medium-size quick-service food chains, such as EAT, Caffè Nero and Pret A Manger. The only major chains accepting contactless so far, such as Boot’s retail pharmacies, have barely dipped their toes in the water. They are only accepting contactless on a trial basis.

He predicted supermarket chains will begin accepting late this year or early next year.

He did not name the chains, but contactless-payment backers are hoping such major chains as Tesco and Sainsbury’s take the plunge. Any adoption by the supermarkets would likely begin slowly.

McDonald said transactions overall have averaged £4.5 (US$6.75) compared with £2.50 to £3 average cash transactions, indicating consumers spend more with contactless cards. But there were only some hundreds of thousands of contactless transactions recorded in the UK in 2009 and transactions only ran into the several tens of thousands in 2008, said McDonald. They should increase to millions this year, before starting to ramp up in 2011.

He predicted by 2012, there would be more than 50 million contactless cards on issue from all banks, including Barclays' and Barclaycard's entire base of 25 million cards. There would be hundreds of millions of transactions, including some from NFC phones, with about 30% of retail outlets in the UK covered, he predicted. By comparison, in the United States, a much larger market, banks have issued more than 200 million much cheaper non-EMV contactless cards during the first five years of their rollout, which began around 2005. There are roughly 75,000 contactless merchant locations at present, or less than 2% of card-accepting merchant outlets covered. The card numbers include replacement cards.

By 2015, all the banks in UK would be issuing contactless, totaling more than 100 million cards, with billions of transactions, predicted McDonald.

The rosy projections rely in part on Transport for London accepting payment directly from EMV bank cards. That could begin on buses in London and also by bus operators in Manchester as early as next year and expand to the London Underground in 2012, said McDonald.

While not out of the realm of possibility, it is unlikely Transport for London would be accepting EMV payments, even on buses, by next year, Lauren Sager Weinstein, head of Oyster development for Transport for London, told NFC Times.

The giant transport authority wants to accept bank payment for most of the fares it now collects on 8,000 buses and on its large Underground network and other modes of transport, and a move in that direction looks promising. But the authority has not yet made a final decision, she said. If it goes ahead with the plan to accept open-loop payment of fares, buses, which charge flat fares to ride, would likely accept contactless EMV cards before the Underground, which has a more complex fare structure.

McDonald also reaffirmed Barclaycard’s intention to launch NFC-based mobile payment and related services as part of its partnership with mobile operator Orange UK. The parties have indicated they would launch before the end of the year, but McDonald did not offer a launch date.

And the bank will continue to promote contactless, said McDonald, who played the latest of Barclaycard's popular television commercials to conferees. The ad spot shows a consumer on a rollercoaster swooping through the London skyline, slowing long enough for a quick tap of his contactless Barclaycard credit card for a food purchase. The commercial and ad time cost £2 million to £3 million.

“There will be a lot more of them,” he said. “At Barclaycard, we do believe the industry will follow.”

Source article

Japan’s M-Payment Players Discover That Points Count

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:27:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

By
Dan Balaban

Without points programs, coupons and other incentives, mass adoption of contactless-mobile payment will not happen in Japan.
That’s one of the main conclusions of a report released Monday by U.S.-based research and consulting firm Celent on Japan’s contactless-wallet rollout.

According to veteran Japan-watcher Red Gillen, author of the report, major backers of the contactless-mobile payment rollout in Japan, including dominant telco NTT DoCoMo, acknowledge they should have emphasized promotions and other reward programs a lot earlier than they did.

“Payments are a commodity; they (consumers) want points,” Gillen told NFC Times. “If it weren’t for points or promotions, adoption would be drastically lower.”

Moreover, Japanese merchants haven’t been “particularly interested in......to read the full report Click Here

Retailers urge UK Government to back move to reduce Debit card transaction fees

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:57:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

Debit card transactions cost four times more to process than cash payments, says the UK's leading retail trade association, raising concerns that the move from cash to contactless debit cards and NFC phones will increase retailers' overheads.

Cash transactions costs UK retailers an average of 2.1p to process while a debit card payment costs 8.5p and a credit card transaction costs an average 34p, says the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

"Retailers are seriously concerned that banks plan to make the higher debit card charging regime the norm for the emerging contactless and mobile phone payment methods," says the BRC, and "if that happens, retailers would face huge increases in their costs as these new ways of paying replace cash – particularly for low value purchases."

"As part of its promised clampdown on irresponsible banking behaviour, the new Government should........to read the full article click here

US airports testing biometric security checks

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:30:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk/

The stereotype of the business traveler dashing to catch a plane with minutes to spare was long ago retired; 9/11 and unpredictable security lines took care of that. And any hopes that private companies could run faster alternative lanes proved too optimistic after the companies closed down a year ago.

But there may be life yet in the E-ZPass-style lanes.

A new crop of successors has risen up, and in recent weeks two airports, Indianapolis and Denver, have been named as the first airports to get the revived programs. While the companies’ odds of success this time around remain uncertain, one factor working in their favor may be pressure from members of Congress, business travel groups and some airports for a reprieve from the sometimes lengthy waits at checkpoints.

Legislation is pending in Congress that would direct the Transportation Security Administration, which balked at the earlier private efforts, to support a new registered traveler program for passengers deemed to be low risk.

At the same time, a two-year-old United States Customs and Border Protection program called Global Entry, which allows fliers undergoing background checks to bypass immigration lines returning home at the end of the trip, is getting a lift from a new publicity campaign aimed at increasing enrollments. Global Entry is now at 20 airports in the United States, including Kennedy Airport in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and other large international gateways.

Enrollment increased to 54,000 members from 16,000, in the last nine months, said Joanne Ferreira, a spokeswoman...........click here to read the full article

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of smart card and NFC technologies. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits please see
href="http://www.consultingsmart.co.uk/">http://www.consultingsmart.co.uk/ or email us at info@consultingsmart.co.uk

MasterCard Launches MoneySend for the iPhone and iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:17:00 +0000

http://www.consultingsmart.co.uk/

New App Allows Users to Receive Card Payments from Anyone

Purchase, NY, June 03, 2010 - MasterCard Worldwide today announced the availability of the MasterCard MoneySendTM service for iPhone and iPad users, a convenient way to transfer money in the United States from person-to person by combining the power of your iPhone or iPad with your banking relationship. MasterCard MoneySend is available for free download at the iPhone App Store.

"MasterCard MoneySend allows users to ‘Send,’ ‘Pay’ or ‘Request Funds’ for a wide range of reasons including the everyday ‘IOU,’ informal services purchased from friends and family, payments to a personal trainer, roommate, babysitter, gardener, housekeeper or repairman," said Joshua Peirez, Chief Innovation Officer, MasterCard Worldwide. "With MoneySend, users avoid the hassle of making payments with cash, check or money orders and collecting funds is as simple as a text message with the ‘Request Funds’ feature of the app."

How it Works
MasterCard MoneySend allows users in the U.S. to send or request money via their iPhone through participating banks and credit unions, or when they create a virtual.....To read the full Press Relaese click here

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of smart card and NFC technologies. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits please see http://www.consultingsmart.co.uk/ or email us at info@consultingsmart.co.uk

A Plan to Kill the NYC MetroCard with Tap-and-Go Payment

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:41:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

By Andrew Grossman of The Wall Street Journal

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will take a step Monday toward replacing the MetroCard with a new, tap-and-go payment system. The agency, along with MasterCard, NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will begin testing a system that would let bus and subway riders tap a device on a reader instead of swiping a card, much as riders in London,Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong have been doing for years. Second Avenue Sagas and AM New York have details about what the pilot, which is being offered on some bus lines and the Lexington Avenue subway.

But what’s really important here is the end goal: replacing the MetroCard by 2014. That has been a pet project of MTA Chief Executive Jay Walder, who helped implement London’s Oyster Card, which works as an all-purpose transit card. Walder repeatedly points to the 15 cents per dollar that it costs the MTA to collect fares, and says a tap-and-go card, which auto-refills from users’ bank or credit card accounts, could reduce that expense. (Walder is fond of asking people what other technology in their pocket or in their homes dates to the 1980s, which is when the MetroCard was developed.)

Walder and other backers of a contactless payment system point to numerous advantages that could come from the new devices. Buses would move faster, since riders wouldn’t have to wait for a machine to read and return their cards. Frequent riders could link the cards directly to their credit cards and refill them online, eliminating the need for frequent use of vending machines (though a version of auto-refill already exists). The MTA wouldn’t need to spend as much money maintaining magnetic card readers. And it could be integrated — as the pilot will be — with NJ Transit and the Port Authority, which runs PATH trains, meaning riders would only need one card to get around the region.

Walder has said the new cards would provide both better service for customers and save money for the MTA. But, as Second Avenue Sagas points out, the authority still has a long way to go before tap-and-go payment gets rolled out to all the area’s 468 subway stations, more 4,000-plus buses and the New Jersey commuter rail network:

“How will a program that requires online registration scale across a system of that averages five million riders a day? What will happen to riders who don’t have credit cards or don’t want to supply the MTA with their credit card info? And more importantly, will a credit card touch-and-go system be the final solution for a MetroCard replacement?”

How Pre-paid cashless can significantly improve your profit every year.

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Sun, 30 May 2010 07:36:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

Almost £30m has been left unused on Oyster pay-as-you-go (PAYG) for at least a year, the BBC has learned.

A total of 16.5m PAYG cards sat idle during the year from April 2009 to April 2010. The average amount on each card was £1.80.

Transport for London (TfL) says no card is deemed as expired and users can always claim the balance back.

The smart cards are used to pay for travel in London. There are plans to roll out similar schemes across the UK.

Oyster cards can be topped up for use on buses, tubes and trains across the capital.

Last year alone, 31,000 PAYG cards were issued and topped up but never subsequently used, even though they held............Click here to read the full article from the BBC News website

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of smart card and NFC technologies including PrePaid and other payment applications. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits please see www.consultingsmart.co.uk or email us at info@consultingsmart.co.uk

Small Swiping Product Paves the Way for Mobile Credit Card Processing

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:38:00 +0000

www.consultingsmart.co.uk

By informan

The development of a lightweight card swiper has made mobile credit card processing feasible for merchants. In addition, this gadget has also allowed the use of PayPal credit card processing to take advantage of its many advantages which include more affordable transaction costs. This tool can readily be plugged into a computer, a laptop computer, or smart phone. Consequently, bank card transactions are always possible wheresoever you are if you have your notebook computer or smart phone with you. Mobile credit card processing permits you to conduct business anyplace there is Online access by hooking up the mobile card swiping apparatus to the mobile computer or smartphone through the USB port.

With PayPal as the service company rather than the usual credit card processing businesses, apart from the benefit provided by mobile credit card processing, vendors may also take advantage of the flat rates of PayPal, which mean reduced transaction expenses. Formerly, business owners did not have an option and had to stick with the conventional card processing firms because with no swiping device, the usage of PayPal for plastic card processing meant being forced to enter the vital info manually rather than just swiping the credit card. This is not only awkward; it is additionally vulnerable to expensive mistakes. Hence, it was the introduction of the handheld swiper which provided merchants with the option of taking advantage of the lower transaction charges provided by PayPal.

An additional benefit provided by the transportable credit card swiping product is that wireless credit card processing is also possible. What this signifies is that it does not really make a difference if you are stationary or moving since you can accept payment by means of charge card at anytime and anyplace provided that there is Web access. If wireless Web access can be found, in essence, you have a point of sale system right there in your laptop computer or cell phone.

There should be one word of caution for those who are planning to use their smart phones to allow for mobile credit card processing. You will need to look at the fees that you will incur whenever you access the Internet via your cell phone. Oftentimes, they have various rates and programs and the lowest priced fee might be based upon the volume of business that you expect to handle while you’re on the go. Obviously, you can always look into the use of free Wi-Fi hot spots even though security issues will need to be resolved. However the key advantage is to be able to get more sales and increasing your income because you could accept payment at any time and anywhere.

Newport Buses first in the UK to launch Smart Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Sun, 16 May 2010 06:30:00 +0000

From Newport City News

Newport Bus will revolutionise the way people catch buses from Monday, May 17 when it becomes the first bus operator in the country to launch a commercially available smart card.

The company, which operates more than 47 services throughout the city and to and from Cardiff and Cwmbran, will be the only bus operator in the UK to operate an ITSO compliant commercial smart card.

Bus operators across the UK have tried to launch a smart card system of this kind before, but without success. From conception to launch it has taken Newport Bus just four months to become the first operator to achieve this landmark goal.

The Newport Bus PASSPORT smart card will go on sale from 9am this coming Monday and will be available in weekly, monthly and annual card types. It is being supported by the Welsh Assembly Government through shared use of the systems and equipment installed as part of the concessionary fares smart card project.

Unlike paper-style bus passes the PASSPORT is a unique credit card-style photo ID, similar to a driving licence. It fits into your wallet and is a more secure and flexible pass for getting about on Newport Bus’ network. When boarding one of the company’s buses customers simply place their PASSPORT on the ticket machine next to the driver and away they go.

Next month the company will also launch Wales’ first top-up card giving customers a flexible means of using buses. Just in the same way you would top-up a mobile phone, the Newport Bus top-up card allows customers to add as little or as much journey credit as they need giving them total control over their bus needs. Perfect to store in a wallet for whenever needed, customers will be able to top up the cards from as little as £5.

Both revolutionary bus cards are part of Newport Bus’ efforts to encourage more people to use buses. Currently 7.6m people use Newport Bus to get them to their chosen destination and in the last 12 months more than 100,000 new passengers have begun using its buses.

Chris Blyth, Managing Director at Newport Transport, said: “We are delighted to be the first bus operator in the UK to launch this kind of commercially available smart card.

“If we want to encourage more people to use buses then we need to make it as convenient and flexible as possible and purchasing a ticket is a key part of this. By becoming the first bus operator in the UK to launch an ITSO compliant commercial smart card we are putting our customers in control of their journey needs.”

The Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said: “This is an important step in the development of an all Wales transport entitlement card and I am delighted that Newport Transport has made the move to smart cards.

“The Welsh Assembly Government has ensured that the back office for the concessionary fares smart card scheme has the capacity for an all Wales transport entitlement card and we welcomed the opportunity to work with Newport Transport to assist the transition to ITSO smart cards.

“ITSO enables the Welsh Assembly Government and all of the 22 local authorities to offer a more flexible transport system for our citizens, reducing costs, improving efficiency and offering travellers throughout Wales an improved travel experience.”

The launch of the PASSPORT smart card follows Newport Bus’ recent announcement of one ticket price for single fare journeys across its entire network meaning customers can travel on any service – including Newport to Cardiff – for just £1.30.

The project has been supported by the efforts of key stakeholders including: Applied Card Technology, MVA Consultancy, ESP Systex and Parkeon.

	Adult	Student	Child
Weekly PASSPORT	£12.00	£10.80	£9.60
Monthly PASSPORT	£46.80	£42.10	£37.45
Annual PASSPORT	£561.60	£505.45	£449.30

From Newport Transport

Now small retailers can participate in the NFC revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Sun, 09 May 2010 07:00:00 +0000

All electronic stored‐value systems rely on the use of security modules for both spendable and spent funds. A security module for spendable funds is essential to give the owner control over spending. However, a security module for spent funds forms a significant barrier to entry for merchants who must be equipped with scheme specific hardware to accept eMoney. A security module in a merchant terminal restricts interoperability: It is difficult for merchants to join

other schemes and eMoney issuers cannot share a common terminal base.

n‐Count technology is the world’s first to address this interoperability roadblock to stored‐value deployment. It provides secured, fast and off‐line value transfers without the need for a security module at the receiving terminal: An n‐Count value transfer provides end‐to‐end security from the payer’s device to the issuer’s clearing system. With n‐Count application software, any computing device such as a POS terminal, PC with card reader or a NFC handset may be programmed to act as a merchant terminal for multiple eMoney schemes.

n‐Count technology is protected by strong patents around the world and is now available for licensing. Want to know more? Then contact our associate consultant Ram Banerjee

Consulting Smart Ltd provide specialist consultancy on the design and deployment of NFC technologies. For more information on how we can help your organisation realise the full benefits of NFC please see www.consultingsmart.co.uk or email Steve Beecroft, Smart Technologies Consultant on sbeecroft@consultingsmart.co.uk

Polish Bank Launches NFC Payments

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Sat, 08 May 2010 06:52:00 +0000

By Steve Beecroft

One of Poland’s largest banks, Bank Zachodni WBK, have committed to launching the country's first NFC payment scheme. This new product offering, which launches next month, is backed by Visa's payWave solution and provides 500 customers with the new Samsung, known as the Avila in Poland, S5230 NFC mobile phone and up to 2 million customers with a contactless card with the option to upgrade to the NFC service via their own NFC enabled mobile phone.

Specially selected customers in Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw will be able to make low value purchases at 4,000 retailers in the three cities. This project is viewed by the bank, Visa and the mobile network provider Polkomtel as the first stage of a large roll out of the NFC capability. when interviewed Aleksander Naganowski of Polkomtel's new business development department, commented "We did not launch another trial, this is a soft-launch of a commercial service," he said. "This project will not be shut down. We will not take back the phones and (SIM) cards. Moreover, once more handsets are available on the market, we are ready to react quickly and enlarge the scale of the rollout." (NFC Times are the source of comments)

BZ WBK have a reputation of being first to market with emerging technologies, introducing new channels and innovative solutions that provide their customers with choice, enhanced service and richer customer experience. In 2008 it issues students with Poland's first ever payWave card and have extended that product to over 150k customers.

The Polish payWave card rollout will gather steam later this year when Poland’s largest financial institution, PKO Bank Polski, is scheduled to begin adding the payWave application to more than 6 million Visa debit cards. This will bring the number of Polish banks issuing the Visa payWave product to 7 and promote Poland to the second largest European adopter of the solution after the UK.

Telefonica and Visa deal for NFC Payments

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:44:00 +0000

By:

Dan Balaban

Mobile operator group Telefónica and Visa Europe have an agreement to promote the rollout of cobranded cards and later mobile payment with NFC phones, according to a Telefónica executive, who said the telco seeks a share of transaction revenue.

Michiel van Eldik, director of new business and innovation at Telefónica SA, speaking at the WIMA NFC conference this week in Monaco, revealed that the large mobile operator group plans to get more deeply involved in payments, not only in Europe, but also in Latin America, where it has major operations. That could involve seeking to share transaction and related revenue with card schemes and banks.

“If I look at the sort of arrangements we have in place between Visa and MasterCard, across our footprint, then in certain pockets we will actually take a slice of the dice,” he said during a question-and-answer session following his presentation at the WIMA conference. “So we take a cut from what Visa basically gets. And that’s actually the model we’re pushing across our footprint.”

It would mean Telefónica would get a “certain percentage point” of the merchant transaction fee, he said, though he declined to specify how big a slice the telco seeks to take.

It was not clear whether the statements by van Eldik, speaking off the cuff, represent the overall strategy of the giant telecom group. But he told NFC Timesthe deal with Visa, signed a couple of months ago, would involve cobranded cards in the six countries in which the group does business in Europe, which, therefore, would include Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany. Telefónica is also working with MasterCard in Latin America, although is still in negotiations. The idea would be to move the payment application to Near Field Communication phones, when the devices are available.

A source outside of Telefónica also told NFC Times that the telco group and Visa are involved in talks with major handset maker Samsung to try to bring more phones supporting NFC to the market. The deal, if completed, would involve commitments for phone orders in exchange for Samsung agreeing to produce perhaps two or three new NFC models, said a source.

A spokeswoman for Visa Europe declined to confirm any deals with Telefónica, saying only that “Visa Europe’s position is that it cannot comment at present.”

But a source with Visa Europe told NFC Times the card network and Telefónica are “planning some activities together” and were in general discussions about “possible opportunities.”

It wasn’t clear how new revenue-sharing deals might work between the telco and card schemes and banks. But, for example, Telefónica might act as sort of a de facto issuer, working through a bank, yet taking a cut of the interchange fees, which are largely paid by merchants through their acquiring banks.

If so, that would apparently be different from the deal Telefónica’s UK branch, O2, has made with Visa and issuer NatWest bank for the cobranded O2 Money card, launched last year.

For that card, like a cobranded card rolled out this year by UK credit card issuer Barclaycard and mobile operator Orange UK, the issuing and acquiring banks benefit from the merchant transaction fees. A source said that Orange collects a fee from Barclaycard for each cobranded credit card the bank issues, a fee that is not based on transactions. The parties, however, have not discussed their revenue-sharing deal publicly.

Usually the transaction fee mostly belongs to the issuing bank, noted van Eldik. “But what we have done, in this case, is that we have negotiated an arrangement with the Visas and MasterCards, as well as we are currently tendering across our footprint for an issuing bank, where we take another slice of the dice,” he said. “And normally the issuing bank will take that from the Visas and MasterCards.”

Tapping Remittances

Telefónica, one of the world’s largest mobile operator groups with 264 million subscribers in 25 countries–many of them in Latin America–is also interested in mobile remittances, said van Eldik.

Globally, remittances amounted to more than $400 billion last year, according to the World Bank and usually flow from rich to poor countries. Both the senders and recipients of the funds transfers usually use third-party payment service providers, such as Western Union or less-formal schemes.

“If you see the pockets between Spain and Latin America, or you see between Germany and Turkey, or you see between the UK and Pakistan or Eastern Europe, there’s a massive amount of money to be made,” he said. “Nothing stops us as mobile operators.”

MasterCard and Visa are also trying to grab a piece of remittances, including those initiated or completed on mobile phones.

Visa Europe is a bank-owned card network, which is affiliated, but separate from U.S.-based Visa Inc. Like MasterCard, Visa Inc. is publicly owned. While it’s unclear whether Visa Inc. is in talks with Telefónica, that is likely. And as van Eldik and other observers note, Visa and MasterCard are acting more and more independently from banks. Still, any direct talks between telcos and card schemes would break the mold.

“This could be significant as this means that mobile network operators would be dealing with payment schemes at a higher level than just dealing with individual financial institutions,” Tim Jefferson, head of UK-based mobile and IT consulting firm The Human Chain, who moderated the WIMA session, told NFC Times.

Possible Negotiations for Phones

He added that any agreement between a big telco group and payment card network could possibly unclog the pipeline through which NFC phones are now only trickling out. A lack of agreement between telcos and financial institutions over how to share revenue from NFC-based mobile payment is one of the main reasons operators have failed to place big orders for phones the past couple of years, most observers agree.

“The combination of mobile network operators, scheme operators and handset manufacturers working together to produce NFC-enabled handsets is a much more attractive proposition," said Jefferson.

Any agreement with Samsung for multiple NFC phones would require a commitment for orders from Telefónica. It’s not clear what role Visa would play in that process.

At present, there is only one NFC phone available that is not a prototype and can support payment and other applications on the SIM card with a standard single-wire protocol connection with the phone’s NFC chip. Telefónica is using the model, the Samsung S5230, for a large trial planned for May in Spain. The telco likely would insist on SWP-enabled phones for any rollouts of NFC services.

Unwelcome by Banks

Any move into payments by Telefónica, of course, would not be popular with banks. And Jordi Guaus, head of mobile payment for la Caixa, one of Spain’s largest banks, told NFC Times he knows of no such move by the telco, at least in Spain.

La Caixa is working with Telefónica on a large NFC trial planned in the town of Sitges, near Barcelona, in May. The trial will involve about 1,500 customers and 500 merchants, and the bank has agreed to pay Telefónica to rent space for its payment application on the telco’s SIM cards. La Caixa is both the issuer and merchant acquirer for the trial.

“Telefónica is not taking anything of the (transaction) fee of the payment,” he said. “We have a commercial model, a (SIM)-rental model. For the trial, we are focused on learning and trying to test things and trying to define the process.”

There is not much room for revenue sharing of payment-transaction fees, said consultant Waqar Qureshi, formerly head of EMV card implementation at Visa International, now an advisor to telcos, banks and other service providers on payment.

“There’s not enough margin in the system,” he told NFC Times. “Nobody in the world has been able to break that business model down and create more participants.”

That might be why Telefónica is apparently considering taking on more of the role of payment issuer and possibly acquirer. It is not the only mobile operator attracted to the payment space. Telcos in Japan, South Korea, China and the United States have either launched their own retail-payment schemes or services or are considering doing so.

For Telefónica, the business models, however, will differ according to the country, van Eldik said.

At the same time, the Telefónica executive called for telcos and the financial-services industry to put aside their differences when it comes to rolling out mobile payment. If they don’t, they might find themselves left behind by more nimble players.

“We might all fight for a decimal percentage point to create our individual position, but I think the biggest threat is that that defensive play will be very time consuming and as a result of that, I think you will see the smarter guys like the Apples or Googles or whoever just sort of bypassing us relatively quickly,” he said. “We have seen that with the application stores, and if we’re not careful, we’re going to see the same thing with NFC.”

T-Mobile Employees Testing NFC Based Services

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:30:00 +0000

The Czech Republic's T-Mobile is launching internal trial operation of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology in order to test the possibility of using SIM cards as an appropriate tool for NFC communication. During the pilot operation, a group of selected employees will use NFC handsets/SIM cards to access the T-Mobile building and their offices, print documents on the network printer and make payments in the canteen.

The first results of the trial operation should be available in the second half of this year.

From a mobile operator's view, a telephone is an ideal tool for NFC technology. Given the areas of use - primarily for identification, but in the future also for payments for example - the security of the entire technology is of utmost importance. Unlike in a number of other NFC tests, T-Mobile has selected SIM cards as secure storage media.

The pilot operation is being conducted at the T-Mobile building in Prague's Roztyly district. Selected employees will use NFC to access the building, print documents and make payments. The trial operation will also focus on improving the user interface in handsets, testing the remote secured NFC data management on SIM cards and connecting this system to the operator's other IT systems. The evaluation of the pilot operation will serve as a basis for the deployment of NFC technology in other projects implemented with external partners.

T-Mobile cooperated on the development of NFC SIM cards exclusively with Gemalto. The telephones for the pilot operation were provided by Samsung; the model used is an NFC variant of the Samsung S5230 Star, a touch-screen smartphone. In the near future, T-Mobile plans to test Gemalto solutions making NFC technology available also on phones that are not NFC-enabled (whereas an NFC SIM card is sufficient).

The other companies participating in the pilot operation at the T-Mobile building are Xerox, provider of printing systems and services; Alimex, provider of the access system; and Eurest, which operates the dining facility and cash-register systems in T-Mobile's canteen.

NFC: Never Mind Credit Cards, Pay With Your Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:40:00 +0000

One of the emerging trends of the Mobile Web is using your phone to interact with the real world. We’re not just talking about ‘checking in’ to locations, either. There’s a world of more practical functionality that hasn’t yet ramped up in the West – using your phone as a payment device (for example mobile ticketing), getting special offers from retailers, downloading data from the Web via ’smart posters’ on the street, and more.

A key technology driving some of these interactions is NFC, which was one of Gartner’s 8 Mobile Technologies to Watch in 2010. It’s a technology that you ought to become familiar with; whether you’re a technologist, a marketer, or a consumer looking to make the best use of your smart phone (and aren’t we all!). So in this post we give you an overview of what to expect from NFC.

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What NFC is & Why You Should Care

As we explained earlier this year, NFC (Near Field Communication) is a short-range communication technology for mobile phones. It’s similar to Bluetooth and has a range of about 10 centimeters. There are three main use cases, according to its Wikipedia entry:

Card emulation: the NFC device behaves like an existing contactless card;

Reader mode: the NFC device is active and reads a passive RFID tag, for example for interactive advertising;

P2P mode: two NFC devices are communicating together and exchanging information.

Using the phone to emulate a smart card means that it can be a deployed as a payment device (similar to a credit card), identity card, security device, and more. This type of functionality is already common in Asia, but it hasn’t yet taken off in the States.

Using the phone as a reader allows the phone to interact with RFID-enabled objects in the real world, for example posters embedded with chips that connect to mobile web sites or applications.

NFC in Mobile Phones & Services

For these use cases to become a widespread reality, an NFC chip must be pre installed in most mobile devices. According to Dan Butcher from Mobile Commerce Daily, this probably won’t happen until 2011 at the earliest.

One issue is that NFC is not a current feature of the iPhone or Android, the tools of choice for many Web early adopters. However one handset manufacturer is showing the way with NFC: Nokia. Its Nokia 6131 NFC phone can be used as a credit card, travel card, loyalty card and a "multi-purpose smart card."

Along with NFC handsets, NFC-enabled services will arise for applications such as mobile payments. As BusinessWeek reported recently, Alcatel-Lucent has announced a new mobile payment hosting service for mobile operators, in partnership with payments systems specialists Clear2Pay and PingPing. However, the article noted that other emerging mobile payment services aren’t using NFC – including Nokia Money and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s new business Square (our review).

NFC Has its Issues, But Also The Momentum…

There are issues with NFC, perhaps the biggest being its limited range. In order for NFC to work, you need to hold your mobile phone close to the RFID tag or reader device. An alternative that has a longer range is DASH7, which we’ll review in an upcoming post.

However NFC holds the most promise for delivering contactless mobile payments to consumers, along with other real world use cases.

Barclaycard and Orange UK Prepare to Launch NFC

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Beecroft) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:22:00 +0000

While many doubt that telcos and banks will ever agree on a business model for NFC and complain about the continued lack of phones supporting the technology, two major players in the United Kingdom–Barclaycard and Orange UK–are preparing for a commercial launch.

One of the largest card issuers in the UK, Barclaycard,and the soon-to-be-biggest mobile operator, Orange UK, are expected to begin rolling out NFC by the end of the year. If they hit that mark, it would be one of the first major commercial launches of NFC services worldwide. It could also spur others into action sooner, such as the mobile-payment partnership of UK telco O2 and NatWest bank.

A year ago, Orange and Barclaycard announced plans to eventually launch NFC mobile payment and other services. And they later let it be known their target was 2010 for a rollout. In January, they introduced a contactless cobranded card that customers could tap to pay at retail outlets and receive SMS transaction alerts.

But a year after the partnership announcement, the lineup of NFC phones on the market remains weak, which is an apt description of the UK economy, as well. And no big retail chains in the UK have yet announced they would accept contactless payment from either cards or phones.

However, none of that seems to be standing in the way of an NFC launch this year by the Barclaycard-Orange partnership, with executives of both companies sounding optimistic tones.

According to Dan Salmons, director of global innovations for Barclaycard,..........to continue reading the full article CLICK HERE