JCB launches NFC mobile payment pilot project in The Netherlands with seven major players
12 June, 2006
category: Contactless, Financial, NFC
Japanese credit card giant JCB has launched an NFC pilot in The Netherlands with seven partners, including Gemplus, Nokia, Philips, and ViVOtech. Using NFC-enabled Nokia phones, some 100 JCB card members will, come autumn, be able to use their phones as contactless payment vehicles at selected merchants.
Amsterdam, Netherlands–JCB, the Asia-based global payment brand, together with seven world-class players in payment systems, terminals, NFC and mobile technology, has announced the launch of a pilot project using an NFC contactless credit payment scheme this autumn in Amsterdam.
This project is being run by a joint cooperation among JCB, CCV Holland B.V., Gemplus, KPN, Nokia, PaySquare, Philips and ViVOtech. With the contactless credit payment scheme, consumers can benefit from the convenience of using their mobile phone to make small payments in Amsterdam.
Selected cardmembers will be supplied with a Nokia mobile phone equipped with Philips’ NFC chips, loaded with the JCB payment application. Cardmembers will be able to pay at merchants by just waving their mobile phone at the contactless payment terminal.
In the first stage of the pilot, JCB will be targeting approximately 100 card members located in Amsterdam and merchants in and around the city’s World Trade Center. On this scale, the pilot is primarily designed to evaluate technological aspects and operational feasibility including customer ease-of-use. The companies involved in this project are hoping to expand both the card member base and merchant locations as the project evolves.
“The concept of this scheme is developed by JCB, coming from its experience of the contactless technologies in Japan. We hope that this can be a great opportunity to explore the small amount payment environment in this market,” said Mr. Hajime Matsuura, Branch Manager at JCB International’s Amsterdam Branch, who is leading this pilot project. “Everybody knows that the mobile phone is nowadays a must-have item and people cannot go out without it. So, it’s the most useful and convenient method for our cardmembers to pay small charges ranging from parking to supermarket purchases. We are confident that it will enable us to expand our business scope to the smaller amount transactions, as well as to extend a higher level of services to our cardmembers.”
JCB’s partners involved in this pilot are:
- CCV Holland for deployment of terminals and processing of the transactions.
- Gemplus to specify and develop the mobile payment application and the associated personalization solution.
- KPN for the installation of the application and personalization of the mobile phone.
- Nokia for deployment of the NFC mobile phone.
- PaySquare, JCB’s acquiring partner in the Netherlands, to acquire merchants.
- Philips for consultation on and delivery of the NFC technology.
- ViVOtech to deploy the contactless EMV readers, the ViVOpay 5000 series, to accept payment from NFC mobile phones.
About JCB
JCB is one of the global payment brands and the largest card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding overseas in 1981. Its merchant network includes 13 million merchants and spans 190 countries and territories. JCB cards are now issued in 20 countries and territories, with 55.99 million card members. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with more than 350 leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solutions company, JCB is committed to providing high-quality payment services to customers, merchants, and partners. For further information, please visit the JCB home page at www.jcb-global.com/english or www.jcbcorporate.com/english.
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