Apple has filed a new patent for an “iWallet” mobile payments application powered by an embedded NFC chip, according to Patently Apple. The patent reveals where the embedded NFC-chip would be positioned in the iPhone, outlines credit transaction rules and details how credit card companies can send statements directly to the user’s iTunes account. The […]

Qatar National Bank (QNB) and local teleco Qtel have teamed up to launch Qatar’s first commercially available NFC payments service. Powered by MasterCard and Oberthur Technologies, the service enables QNB and Qtel customers to make everyday purchases of up to QR100 ($27.50) with just a tap of their NFC-enabled mobile phone. QNB customers can use […]

Raisonance and Soliatis, two suppliers of test and certification solutions, have merged to form Keolabs, a new company for testing and developing smart cards and secure components. Combining the complementary smart card test offers of the two companies, Keolabs will provide test solutions and pre-certification test suites to validate secure components used in applications such […]

Thales and Aconite have integrated their solutions to support the secure personalization of smart cards, secure elements on mobile phones and other chip-based tokens, as well as the processing of smart transactions. According to the partners, the new offering integrates Aconite’s smart chip issuance and management technology with Thales’ payShield 9000 hardware security modules (HSMs) […]

Research firm NPD In-Stat has released a new report predicting that total mobile payment transactions – mobile payments made via NFC or bar code – will reach 9.9 billion globally in 2016, up from 1.1 billion in 2012. According to NPD, the proximity mobile payments market is still in its infancy, with “weak” infrastructure on […]

Japan’s Dai Nippon Printing Co. and the Identive Group have teamed up to develop a new reader designed to handle any type of electronic identity credentials used in Japan. Built with banks and retailers in mind, the NDI711 reader supports NFC-enabled phones, including those using the Osaifu-Keitai Mobile Wallet, along with Type A/Type B contactless […]

GlobalPlatform, the organization that standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology, has published a new white paper detailing its vision to create a “consumer centric” ecosystem in which the consumer have ultimate control over which secure applications they want to use on their device. The white paper, “A New Model: The Consumer-Centric Model […]

VeriFone Systems announced that it will integrate the Isis Mobile Commerce Application into its current and future NFC-enabled point of sale products. Through the delivery of new payment systems, NFC add-on devices and remote software upgrades, VeriFone will bring Isis-powered mobile contactless payments to hundreds of thousands of merchant locations across the U.S. VeriFone currently […]

Google has announced that mobile operator Sprint Nextel will launch an array of new phones with support for Google Wallet this year, reports FierceMobile. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Google Wallet Vice President Osama Bedier said that customers can expect to see Google Wallet on “at least ten” new Sprint phones in […]

Some two dozen retailers, including heavyweights Walmart and Target, are preparing their own mobile wallet services in lieu of existing solutions like Google Wallet, Isis and PayPal, according to the Wall Street Journal. Citing security concerns and disappointment with existing systems’ rewards and offers features, these retailers are intent on building a better system of […]