The NFC Forum has announced that Intel Corporation has upgraded its membership from Principal to Sponsor, the highest level of membership in the organization. As a Sponsor member, Intel will hold a seat on the NFC Forum Board of Directors, as well designate individuals to run for Forum leadership positions and appoint one voting representative […]

Barclays and Barclaycard have teamed up with the London Community Gospel Choir to put a new spin on charitable donations this holiday season, reports Shiny Shiny. At a performance in December at Covent Garden, the choir carried a specially designed collections bucket that could accept donations from contactless cards. Barclaycard was on hand to distribute […]

Smart Communications, a mobile operator based in the Philippines, has announced the launch of its new Smart Money “Tap2Pay” mobile payments solution. The first service of its kind in the Philippines, Tap2Pay lets users make payments with a simple tap of their NFC-enabled phone at the point of sale. To promote the new offering, Smart […]

Etisalat Afghanistan, the country’s fastest growing cellular operator, has announced the launch of its “mHawala” mobile financial services. Etisalat Afghanistan customers can use mHawala to make contactless mobile transactions at the point of sale, as well as purchase air time, pay bills and transfer funds to family and friends directly from their mobile phone. Users […]

AuthenTec has announced that its AES850 smart fingerprint sensor has been integrated into a new Fujitsu smart phone, the REGZA Phone T-01D. With AuthenTec’s AES850, the Android 2.3-based phone can be locked and unlocked via a quick scan of the user’s fingerprint. The sensor can also be used to control access to applications on the […]

FIME is joining forces with Thales IT Security Evaluation Facility (ITSEF), a provider of information systems and secure communication in defense, security and transportation markets, to provide a new testing and certification service. According to FIME, the integrated service will combine Thales’ NFC and mobile payment product security evaluation expertise with FIME’s functional assessment experience. […]

Ingenico announced the launch of a new conactless card payment system for public transportation in Eskisehir, Turkey. Based on MasterCard’s M/Chip Advance technology, the new system will allow riders on Eskisehir’s buses and tramways to pay for fares with the tap of a contactless “Esparacard” card. Ingenico designed and supplied both the point-of-sales hardware and […]

Boardwalk Inc., a Tokyo-based ticketing solution provider, has announced that it will begin NFC research and development for ticket-related applications. Boardwalk provides a mobile ticketing solution based on Osaifu-Keitai mobile wallet technology. According to Boardwalk, the Felica-compliant service turns the phone itself into a contactless electronic ticket that can be used in place of a […]

Nokia and NFC Danmark have teamed up to launch an NFC-enabled smart poster campaign in Telia stores across Denmark. Customers of Telia, a major Nordic mobile operator, can now user their NFC-enabled N9 phones to tap icons on the posters (pictured) to instantly download mobile apps. In addition to the posters, Nokia and NFC Danmark […]

Absa, the largest consumer bank in South Africa, has announced an internal trial of NFC-enabled contactless payments, according to IT News Africa. Scheduled to kick off later this month, the pilot will see 500 Absa employees equip their BlackBerry smart phones with NFC-enabled MicroSD cards that can be used to make contactless payments. Participants will […]