McDonald’s has confirmed the rollout of contactless payment technology in all 1,200 of its UK restaurants. According to The Mirror, the fast-food giant is introducing special contactless readers that will allow customers to pay for orders of £15 or less with contactless credit or debit cards. The £1.5million initiative is set for launch this summer. […]

SOFTBANK MOBILE has chosen Gemalto to provide NFC technology for the latest mobile contactless payment trial in Japan. The trial will enable some of SOFTBANK’s customers to use their mobile phone for contactless payments in convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and theaters. The program also offers users the option of performing NFC transactions from two credit […]

TransLink has a signed a contract with IBM Canada and Cubic Transportation Systems to bring smart card-based fare payment technology to Vancouver’s transit system, according to The Cloverdale Reporter. Slated for a 2013 launch, the new system will allow passengers on Metro Vancouver public transportation, including the rapid transit SkyTrain, to pay for trips with […]

RNCOS has launched a new research report, “Smart Card Market Forecast to 2012,” predicting that the global smart card industry will post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 12% during 2011-2013. According to the report, the major driver for the global smart card industry remains its application in the financial services, where smart […]

Leaked images of RIM’s new BlackBerry smart phone – codenamed “Dakota” – reveal that the handset will feature NFC technology, reports techtree.com According to the leak, the Dakota is expected to contain an embedded NFC chip, like in Samsung’s Nexus S. The device will also be the slimmest BlackBerry to date, with a 10.5 mm […]

Mobifyer, a division of Merchant360, announced the release of an NFC development kit for Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The development kit features Mobifyer’s mobile contactless tags, which can be encoded by the customer online to suit their particular program. Mobifyer also offers contactless key fobs, wristbands and cards. “We are in the business of increasing the […]

HID Global has announced that it will display its newly launched line of secure contactless payment and identification stickers at the Intersec Trade Fair and Conference 2011 – the largest safety and security event outside of Europe. According to HID, their stickers allow users to add closed-loop payment and loyalty systems to existing systems, as […]

Trüb AG has expanded its portfolio of EMV smart card solutions with CombOS CPA. This new product complies with the SEPA specifications and is aimed at private label cards. The CombOS portfolio of operating systems developed by Trüb for EMV-compliant smart card solutions is being expanded with CombOS CPA (Common Payment Application). CombOS CPA implements […]

By Phil Scarfo, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing, Lumidigm The past few years have been particularly difficult and challenging for the financial services industry, both here and abroad. And yet, despite the turmoil, certain markets are actively investing in biometrics authentication programs and continuing to grow. Our own experience during 2010 supports this […]

The latest market data from ABI Research shows that the market for smart cards and secure ICs grew to record levels in 2010, and is forecast to grow even further in 2011. According to ABI, the milestone of 6 billion ICs was passed for the first time last year as manufacturers bounced back from a […]