BMO Bank of Montreal has announced that it will become the first bank in Canada to launch MasterCard’s Mobile PayPass Tag for NFC payments. BMO customers can attach the tag to their mobile phone to make contactless purchases at the point of sale by simply tapping the phone against a PayPass reader. Once the purchase […]

Rabobank and Albert Heijn (AH) have announced the launch of an NFC payments pilot at the ‘AH to go’ convenience store in the Amsterdam WTC. Dubbed ‘Mijn ID,’ the new service uses NFC stickers that are attached to the customer’s phone, which link to the user’s Rabobank Minitix wallet enabling contactless payments at the point […]

Barclaycard has announced that it is helping outfit Timpson and Max Spielmann’s UK stores with new point of sale equipment for contactless payments. Currently the largest shoe repairer, key cutter, engraver and watch repairer in the UK, the Timpson Group will see some 860 stores nationwide equipped with contactless readers, enabling customers to tap and […]

Microsoft has unveiled a new Windows 8 tablet equipped with NXP Semiconductors’ PN544 NFC chip at the Microsoft BUILD conference this week in Anaheim, Calif. According to NXP, the NFC-enabled demo tablet can pair and share information with other connected devices by holding them in close proximity, as well as read information from tags, posters […]

An expanded article on the project is available here. A trial at Arizona State University showcased the benefits of using NFC smart phones as secure credentials for opening doors at universities and other campus environments. ASU manages on-campus housing for approximately 13,000 students living in 34 residence halls. The pilot project consists of HID Global […]

The smart card industry bounced back from a weak 2009, as unit shipments increased 19% and smart card IC units increased by more than 20%, according to IMS Research. In its new report “Smart Cards and Smart Card ICs – World – 2011,” IMS Research discovered that card suppliers restocked their inventories in 2010, which […]

Could the smart phone of the future really be a smart watch? That’s the way Fastcompany.com sees it. With the unexpected DIY success of the iPod Nano Touch as a wristwatch (there’s even a Web site that modifies the device for you), it’s entirely feasible that Apple may throw some chips into developing a connected […]

Calif-based Looping has unveiled a new kind of mobile loyalty service based on sound loop technology today at the DEMO Fall 2011 Conference. According to Looping, the service uses special tones generated on the mobile phone to identify the loyalty account user, rather than paper and plastic cards, mobile-generated bar codes, NFC technology, and so […]

Orange has announced that the long-awaited Samsung Wave 578 handset is coming soon to UK stores preloaded with Orange’s Quick Tap NFC SIM for mobile payments, according to Somobile. Originally announced back in February, the NFC-enabled Wave 578 runs on Samsung’s latest Bada OS and features a 3.2-inch touch screen, 16 GB built-in memory, WiFi […]

The Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance has published version 1.0 of its Cipurse open ticketing standard to the public for ‘reading and evaluation.’ Designed to give transit authorities ‘future-proof’ fare collection systems, the Cipurse specification will enable technology suppliers to develop and deliver interoperable fare collection solutions via contactless cards, stickers, fobs, mobile […]