The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has begun accepting proposals from tech firms to replace its SmarTrip fare system, according to tbd.com. The Metro, which provides rapid transit services to Washington D.C. and its suburbs, is looking for an open fare system that uses “contactless, chip-enabled debit and credit cards, federal ID cards, or […]

A recent survey by CONIX has revealed that financial institutions are looking to invest in new payment technology in 2011, according to PNT Marketing Services. “Banks being on more stable ground has set the stage for a period of strategic business redistribution in the industry,” said CONIX’s CEO, Mike Charles. “Even while banks have been […]

Japanese carrier Softbank has announced new NFC stickers for the iPhone 4 that enables customers to conduct contactless mobile payments at the point of sale, according to macrumors.com The sticker, which covers the entire back of the phone, is made of polyurethane, weighs half an ounce and costs $36. The device does not actually interact […]

RNCOS has released a new report predicting that the worldwide shipment of secure microprocessor contactless smart cards will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24% from 2011 to 2013. According to RNCOS, the increasing application of smart cards in various industrial sectors, including mobile payments, transportation and ID, coupled with rising awareness […]

Citibank Korea has partnered with KT, Korea’s 2nd largest wireless services provider, to launch its new Citi Mobile Card, enabling Citi credit cards to be downloaded wirelessly to a mobile phone’s USIM chip. The new solution allows KT customers to tap their mobile phone on a contactless reader at the point of sale to pay […]

Alcatel-Lucent has launched a contactless payment and loyalty points program with Sanoma Magazines to help the Belgium-based publisher gain insight into the buying habits of its non-subscription customers, according to destinationcrm.com. In the pilot, customers use prepaid NFC stickers affixed to their mobile phones to buy Sanoma’s ‘HUMO’ and ‘Flair’ magazines by holding the mobile […]

California-based market research group iSuppli predicts “explosive” growth for NFC technology over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal. iSuppli says that this year’s worldwide shipment of 52.6 million NFC-equipped phones will quadruple to 220.1 million units in 2014. This means that 13.1% of all phones shipped in 2014 will feature NFC, […]

California-based Tempo Payments is planning to pilot mobile contactless payments tied to “decoupled” debit cards, according to paymentssource.com. The pilot will involve tagging consumers’ phones with NFC stickers to conduct contactless mobile payments at the point of sale. Mike Grossman, Tempo’s CEO, says the company plans to eventually move the pilot to microSD based NFC […]

HTC CEO Peter Chou says that the Taiwan-based company will introduce NFC into its LTE smart phones and tablets late next year, according to androidcentral.com. Similar to the recently announced Google Nexus S, HTC’s new phones will feature integrated NFC chips for contactless mobile payments, identification and more. In a conference with GSMA, Chou commented […]

Turkey’s Bank Asya is partnering with smart card technology solutions provider Watchdata to launch a microSD-based mobile payment solution in Turkey. The solution, called DIT Mobil, enables customers to conduct transactions at the point of sale by simply tapping their mobile phone against a MasterCard PayPass compatible reader. The new solution is the latest member […]