T-Mobile are reporting that their customers in the Czech republic are starting to embrace the use of their mobiles as a payment tool. Last year, reports T-Mobile, for the first time ever customers in the Czech Republic spent more than a billion Czech crowns using this payment method. 

In 2012, customers of the magenta operator made payments in the total amount of CZK 1.017 billion using their mobile phones. The group of mobile payments includes Premium SMS and SMS payment (including the very popular SMS public transport tickets), audiotex and m-payment services as well as Donor SMS. The largest volume of transactions out of the total volume of transactions made via payment gateways of mobile operators was rendered via T-Mobile’s m-payment service – a full 71%.

“Recently, we have seen increased interest of both customers and vendors in using the m-payment service. A year-on-year increase of 111% is a very nice figure indeed,” says Milan Haba, Vice President Category & Product Management at T-Mobile, adding, “People particularly appreciate the convenience offered by payments for purchases via mobile telephones. We believe that in the near future we will be able to further extend the payment options, for example using NFC technology.”

T-Mobile introduced the m-payment service as early as in 1999 at the Invex trade show and became one of the first operators in the world to put it into commercial use. The service allows customers to pay for goods and services conveniently on-line, either using the web browser in their mobile telephones or via computer.

T-Mobile say it has responded to the growing popularity of payments via mobile telephones not only by expanding its current services but also by developing and implementing new solutions. This year, the operator plans to launch NFC payments. The company say that they will issue a special T-Mobile SIM card and then, with a NFC-enabled handset, customers will be able to make a mobile payments. Interestingly, T-Mobile also say that they expect customers to use these NFC enabled handsets identify themselves upon entering a building or a cultural (or sports) event. This may be one of the few times that a service provider is  pushing the benefit of using NFC enabled mobiles as a form of identity or access control in the same breath as payment. This may be something to watch more closely!

For more information about T-Mobile’s mobile payment services, please visit www.platmobilem.cz.

Morpho (Safran) is the supplier of the first Colombian MasterCard Maestro PayPass debit card launched by Bancolombia. Based on tap-and-go technology, Morpho’s multi-application dual-interface product range will enable customers of Colombia’s largest bank to experience the benefits of both contact and contactless payment.

Morpho is providing a full set of consulting, integration, personalization and production services through its teams located in Bogotá, Cali and Medellin to support Bancolombia’s strategy to roll out chip cards to their 6.4 million customers. The Maestro PayPass cards will provide customers with speed and convenience for low-value transactions by simply tapping the card on a reader.

Maria Cristina Arrastía, Vice President of Bancolombia’s Mortgage and Specialized Consumer Banking, said “More and more Colombians want easy access to banking, which should be available where and whenever they need it, while ensuring them the mobility, portability and connectivity that they require. That is why at Bancolombia we remain at the forefront with the latest technologies that will make life easier for our clients – and in Morpho we have found an ally that accompanies us in this process of innovation in electronic payment in Colombia.”

“Morpho’s team is very proud to be part of this very first dual-interface innovative payment system implementation in Colombia,” stated Arnaud Jullien, Senior Vice President Payment at Morpho, e-Documents Division. “Our experience in migration projects all over the world allowed us to leverage our unique EMV* expertise to lead this project successfully. Our experience is that Colombian banks are eager to implement innovative technologies; this first PayPass card deployment with us can be seen as a clear signal of confidence in EMV and Morpho products to sustain innovation.”

Visa’s payWave contactless technology has reached its one million Visa payWave-enabled payment card in Singapore, issued since their introduction into the market there in 2007. 

When paired with the government’s ongoing support of contactless infrastructure, Visa says that this announcement marks a tipping point for contactless payments taking off in the country and continued adoption of cashless payment options. Visa payWave transaction volumes in Singapore are growing dramatically with an increase of 148% from 2011 to 2012[1]. Transaction values on Visa payWave cards are also skyrocketing with a year to year growth of 133%1. In comparison, the total number of Visa payWave cards in Singapore increased by nearly 50% (Dec. 2012 vs. Dec. 2011)[2].

“Accepting Visa payWave has helped us reduce our check-out times, which means busy customers are not spending so much time in line, enabling us to provide a more streamlined and enjoyable customer experience,” said Mr. Lim Hock Chee, CEO of Sheng Siong Group. “With the peace of mind that comes with Visa’s security features, and the greater speed and convenience of contactless transactions, we can see why contactless payments is taking off here in Singapore.”

According to Visa research on contactless payments, consumer reaction to using contactless payment has been overwhelmingly positive, and Visa payWave continues to gain traction and acceptance in Singapore as new merchants come on board. For merchants who accept Visa payWave, the payment technology offers a faster way to settle payments without the hassle of cash management.

“Today’s milestone shows that more cardholders, merchants and financial institutions in Singapore are embracing the concept of a truly cashless society. The number of Visa payWave-enabled cards issued here has now reached critical mass, making contactless payment cards a part of Singaporean cardholders’ lives for everyday transactions,” said Ms. Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei. “With more than one million Visa payWave cards issued in Singapore, this is a testament to Singapore’s progress towards greater efficiencies and eagerness to adopt new ways to pay and electronic payments innovation. Visa will continue to build momentum for contactless payments by working with bank partners and merchants to offer special Visa payWave promotions for cardholders and, ultimately, driving greater acceptance for Visa payWave in Singapore. With that in mind, we expect Visa payWave transactions to account for 10% of all face-to-face Visa card transactions in Singapore this year,” she added.

Visa payWave is currently accepted at many of Singapore’s leading retailers and F&B outlets including Sheng Siong, Watson’s, Cold Storage, Market Place, Giant, Shop N Save, Guardian Pharmacy, Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Burger King. Around the region, more than one million Visa payWave cards have been issued in Hong Kong (as of June 2012), and in Taiwan, financial institutions reported 5.6 million credit cards on issue are enabled with Visa payWave (as of Sept. 2012).

1. Source: VisaNet Data (Dec. 2012 compared to Dec. 2011)
2. Visa payWave quarterly reporting

MasterCard Worldwide has reported record growth of its contactless payments technology, MasterCard® PayPass™, across the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region in 2012, citing a 28% (YoY) increase in merchant. MasterCard’s PayPass contactless payment network now boasts nearly 700,000 merchant locations in 51 countries as of Q4 2012.

The company says that growth data reflects a strong demand from consumers for contactless payments including those in emerging markets like Vietnam, which last month launched contactless payments for the first time. Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, South Africa and United Arab Emirates were credited as key contributors to growth in the APMEA region, and hotbeds for innovation in contactless payments.

Other highlights in the Asia/AsiaPacific region, released by Mastercard, include;

• In Australia, more than one-in-ten card transactions under $100 is now being made with PayPass.
• In Singapore, transactions made using PayPass at last year’s Great Singapore Sale (GSS) grew 100-fold, with total spend up by more than 54%.
• In New Zealand, all new consumer credit and debit cards issued are enabled with PayPass. Consumer-led demand for contactless technology drove uptake among the country’s most popular retailers, including Bunnings, Kmart, The Warehouse, Resene, Repco, and BP.
• In United Arab Emirates, MasterCard collaborated with Network International, the region’s leading acquirer, to expand its contactless payments infrastructure, installing MasterCard PayPass terminals across more than 1000 stores in 2012, and paving the way for contactless mobile payments in the region.

Mastercard admits that trong growth in merchant locations was made possible through strategic collaborations, including those with Coles and Woolworths supermarkets in Australia, NTT DOCOMO in Japan, and E.Sun Bank in Taiwan. Merchants are also seeing real impact to their bottom line.

Earlier this month MasterCard Worldwide and leading Vietnamese bank, Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) announced the launch of contactless cards enabled by MasterCard PayPass with hundreds of merchant acceptance locations countrywide. A first for Vietnam, the availability of contactless payments marks a significant milestone in the country’s payments industry.

Under the partnership with Eximbank, all existing customers will be converted to PayPass cardholders. PayPass cardholders in Vietnam will now be able to make contactless payments at hundreds of merchant locations nationwide, as well as outside of the country, anywhere MasterCard PayPass is accepted.

Mrs Dinh Thi Thu Thao, Deputy CEO of Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank said: “The launch of MasterCard PayPass is a big step for Vietnam’s payments industry and for its financial system, which is moving increasingly towards a reduction in cash payments. We’re proud to be the first financial institution in the country to facilitate the shift towards a contactless payments ecosystem.”

Vietnam has made notable progress in recent months in its goal towards an increasingly ‘cashless’ society, partly due to an initiative from the government which aims to reduce cash payment to below 11 percent of total transactions, and have some 250,000 card-accepting merchants and 200 million transactions per year by 2015.

“By providing consumers in Vietnam with a simple, secure way to pay for small ticket items that consumers purchase most, we hope to play a role in helping the country achieving its goal of reducing cash payments over the next few years” said Anton Corro, Country Manager & Chief Representative, Indochina at MasterCard Worldwide. “MasterCard is committed to developing innovations that address current and future payment needs of people and governments around the world. The rollout of PayPass in Vietnam is a reflection of our bullish approach to driving the uptake of new technology and innovation in Southeast Asia’s emerging markets.”

Initial PayPass-enabled merchants in Vietnam include fast food restaurants, convenient stores, and super markets.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. have announced that Canada’s South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (TransLink) has adopted its MIFARE technology platform for Vancouver’s public transport system. With the introduction of NXP’s MIFARE technology, the company says that TransLink can quickly roll out a reliable and secure contactless service across the entire infrastructure to further accelerate use of public transportation in the smart city of Vancouver.

Ranked among the world´s top 5 cities of Mercer´s Quality Living Ranking for four years, Vancouver is pursuing a Green City Plan to address urban challenges including the optimization of transportation over a 30 year period. To achieve its Green Transportation goal of accomplishing 50% of all trips by foot, bicycle or public transportation, Translink asked US systems integrator Cubic to create an efficient, secure and future-proof transit system powered by NXP’s MIFARE™ technology.

Vancouver is introducing the Compass Card, which will enable passengers to enjoy fast, convenient and secure transactions across buses, sky trains and ferries using just one contactless smart card. In addition, passengers can add travel products or values to their Compass Card at vending machines, online, by phone, or at a walk-in customer service centers. The new MIFARE DESFire EV1-based transport scheme including NXP‘s infrastructure solutions is currently being installed.

“Vancouver has identified smart contactless ticketing as a key way to expand the appeal and convenience of its citywide transportation network. Its selection of MiFare DESFire as the technology to deliver this further expands NXP’s footprint in smart cities around the world. ABI Research forecasts the consumption of secure smart card tickets in transportation to grow by 86% by the end of 2017”, said John Devlin, group director security and ID with ABI Research.

“With urbanization being a significant megatrend in the 21st century, one of the greatest concerns for modern cities is ensuring that residents, vehicles and the economy itself is able to keep moving,” says Ulrich Huewels, vice president and general manager, card security business line, NXP Semiconductors. “NXP solutions can address this challenge by optimizing public transport systems and individual traffic. NXP provides a complete end-to-end solution validated by more than 650 cities worldwide, and used by up to 1.2 billion passengers per day in megacities such as London, Moscow, Los Angeles or Beijing.”

The MIFARE DESFire open architecture platform is based on open global standards for both air interfaces and cryptographic methods. In addition to offering data transfer rates of up to 848 kbit/s, MIFARE DESFire utilizes a triple DES, 3K DES, and AES hardware cryptographic engine for securing the data on the smartcards and data during transmission. Further, the MIFARE DESFire platform enables seamless extensions of ticketing solutions on banking cards or on NFC-enabled mobile devices both working with NXP’s SmartMX™ high security microcontroller technology, leveraging NXP’s leading position in the overall Identification market as well as in market segments such as transport ticketing, access, banking, e-government or NFC.

By Eve Pearce;

The number of payments made through Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in China is expected to rise by 52.7 percent in 2013, according to new research.

The findings, which were released as part of the World Payments Report 2012 by Capgemini, predicted that China would see exponential growth in the number of contactless payments made, with the total amount of electronic payment transactions likely to tip US $31.4 billion by the end of this year.

The number of transactions has been increasing steadily for the past four years, with annual growth standing at 20 percent since 2008. However, this significant leap in adoption of the technology in 2013 is likely to see annual transaction amounts reach US $17 billion for this year alone.

Several Asia-Pacific countries have already experienced a mass adoption of contactless payment technologies; in Japan, Australia and South Korea, for example, it is now considered commonplace for consumers to purchase goods via platforms on their mobile phones. With these countries standing as an example of seamless payment technology, eyes are now turning to rapidly emerging markets such as China, Brazil, India and Russia, which are expected to be next in line to adopt such technologies. Leading economists and retail experts expect the next few years to be pivotal in terms of mass adoption. “The Asia-Pacific, with a vast population, is going to be one of the key markets for growth,” confirmed a spokesperson for Capgemini.

China’s technology capital

Shanghai is fast becoming China’s centre for contactless payment technology, as innovative technology firms and entrepreneurs compete to take advantage of this vast marketplace. This month alone, there have been 26 new licences granted by authorities for new e-payment companies in China; six of these are in Shanghai. Dubbed China’s answer to Silicon Valley, this vast city already boasts 51 e-payment companies – more than a quarter of all such companies listed in China.

Commercial adoption   

Earlier this year, research showed that many firms operating in emerging markets were making electronic payment channels standard practice for conducting business. Visa was one of the largest companies to affirm the mainstream appeal of contactless payment methods in emerging markets; the finance giant announced that 40 percent of its contactless payment transactions originated from emerging economies such as China. Indeed, China has been making steady progress in introducing NRC to its citizens since 2009 when it introduced the China National Advanced Payment System (CNAPS). The new system was originally designed to enable corporate firms to easily initiate mobile payments, e-billing and real time payments.

China isn’t the only country that is leading the way for NRC payment technology; Kenya’s M-PESA system, for example, allows citizens to embrace the country’s mobile boom by paying for goods via their mobile, without the need for cash. The system was quick to catch on in Kenya, and now boasts more than 19 million users who account for 83 percent of the county’s entire adult population. Collectively, M-PESA users now transfer almost US $8 billion every year. Not only does M-PESA enable its members to pay for a variety of conveniences without cash, but it also provides a simple, effective means through which they can control, manage and transfer finances amongst each other.

Huge untapped market

In 2011, US $14.413 trillion was exchanged by consumers via cash transactions, according to Euromonitor. The gap between mobile and cash payments is narrowing; this is being driven by emerging markets, which are leap-frogging their developed counterparts by the early adoption of new mobile technologies. Developing countries are leaping straight from 2G to 4G, completely bypassing 3G (Angola, for example, received 4G before most of Europe). At the start of this year, analysts at IDC Financial Insight estimated that purchases made via mobile devices would exceed US $1 trillion by 2017. A large proportion of this amount will be made up by digital media, but an increasing amount will come from eCommerce through mobile web browsers and store apps.

More mobiles than people

As of 2012, there are now more mobile devices in the world than people; IDC predicts that this proliferation of mobile devices – particularly smartphones – will lead to further rapid growth for the global m-commerce industry. Aaron McPherson, a director at IDC Financial Insights concluded: “We expect growth rates to continue to accelerate as consumers and retailers become more comfortable with the technology.”

Confidex, a supplier of contactless fare media, has been selected by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport  (SPT), which owns and operates the Glasgow Subway, to supply a large volume of contactless ITSO smart tickets to replace magnetic stripe tickets currently in use across the underground system. The tickets will be encoded and issued from vending machines, parking machines and ticket offices.

Confidex offers a wide range of contactless fare media dedicated to occasional and seasonal users and has supplied over 350 million contactless tickets to operators worldwide. In Glasgow, UK, Confidex has been selected by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport  (SPT) to supply a high volume of contactless ITSO smart tickets.

Kevin Farquharson from Smartran, Confidex’s Partner in the UK, comments: ”We recognised SPT’s strong commitment to introduce smart ticketing  and realised they needed an international supplier who could deliver a high quality smart ticket to specification and for a competitive price. Low cost media has been part of the ITSO (national standard for smart ticketing in UK) specification from the outset, but has received limited attention as operators and authorities concentrated on concessions and period passes. In contrast many schemes in Europe, North America and across the world rely on low cost smart tickets to reduce fraud and speed passengers through their networks. We worked with Confidex to ensure they met or exceeded all of SPT’s expectations.”

“Confidex is proud to be the first to introduce high volumes of contactless paper ticket into the UK” comments Pierre Chadebech, Confidex’s Business Development Director, Person ID. “Glasgow is the culmination of an outstanding year for the Company, highlighted by the award of 20 new schemes.”

As more UK schemes and operators look at how they maximise the business and operational benefits of smart ticketing, use of low-cost smart tickets is expected to increase. SPT Assistant Chief Executive Eric Stewart says:  “A key part of SPT’s Subway modernisation work is a move away from traditional paper tickets to a smartcard system and we intend to roll out the technology across our 15 stations later this year. After holding a competitive tender Confidex was selected on the basis of price, quality and delivery capability and the ability to achieve ITSO certification which is essential to provide the inter-operability function necessary for passengers to enjoy seamless travel. That starts in our Subway system and in due course will be available on bus, train, and ferry services.”

Confidex, together with its partner Smartran, will showcase its contactless fare media offering at Transport Ticketing 2013 conference & expo, in London UK, on January 28-30, 2013. Booth #30.

CHARGE Anywhere® LLC, a  provider of secure mobile payment applications and payment gateway solutions, is to enter a  distribution partnership with Tech It Easy (TIE) Ltd, a retail sales and support of telecommunications products provider, in the Virgin Islands.

Operating in the British Virgin Islands, TIE Ltd is expanding their service offering to include mobile payment capabilities (mpos) with CHARGE Anywhere’s mobile payment acceptance technology via smartphones anywhere business is conducted or service provided. By swiping customers’ cards directly through the devices attached to smartphones, merchants are able to accept card payments and process orders, anywhere in real-time.

“Our research has revealed that within the Virgin Islands, merchants are severely restricted in the processing of credit card payments. Because credit card validation terminals deployed have traditionally required a land based telephone line and electrical power to operate, merchants and retailers are restricted to accepting credit card payments exclusively within their premise,” said Elford Parsons owner, of TIE. “In the British Virgin Islands, where mobile penetration is well above the 100% mark and smartphones are quite prevalent, we are confident that the Virgin Islands is primed for the adoption of mobile payments.” Parsons added.

At the core of the partnership is a joint commitment to provide “Technologically Innovative Experiences” by providing mobile payment solutions today, [and other innovative payment solutions in the future] to business operators throughout the Virgin Islands. TIE anticipates that local banks will embrace this technology and move swiftly to make the mobile payment options available to their customers.

“There is a level of complexity that is vital to make a payment network available to an entire region and CHARGE Anywhere’s established ecosystem will empower mobile payments, in partnership with TIE Ltd., throughout the Caribbean,” said Oscar Muñoz, CHARGE Anywhere’s EVP and Senior Vice President of International Business Development.

Financial Institutions will recognize that the PCI security and end-to-end encryption available through ComsGate®, CHARGE Anywhere’s payment gateway, is capable of turning their enterprise and MSME client’s smartphones into secure, mobile point-of-sale (mpos) terminals with their existing infrastructure.

“We are extremely committed and looking forward to the full deployment of our award winning, best-of- breed mobile payment technology in the Caribbean market. We believe this is the beginning of a mutually beneficial and long-lasting business relationship,” said Muñoz.

From next month (Feb 2013), Citibank Europe plc will issue – automatically and free of charge – a contactless payment sticker with each new Citi Life, Citi Life Metropole, Citi Broker Consulting, Citi BILLA and Citi CSA credit card for customers in the Czech Republic

Citi says it is a pioneer of new technologies in the Czech Republic and that it has been at the forefront of a number of contactless payment innovations in recent years. Citi was the first to introduce a contactless card in the Czech Republic; it made the first contactless payment transaction; it was the first to begin to issue contactless payment stickers; it participated in a pilot project for NFC contactless mobile payments; and in September 2012, it was the first bank in the Czech Republic to introduce the first multifunctional credit card of its kind that combines the advantages of a credit card and the regional public transport card, Opuscard. And now Citibank will become the only bank in the Czech Republic to begin to automatically issue its new clients with contactless payment stickers for credit cards.

“Citibank wants to provide its clients with state-of-the-art technologies that will make shopping easier for them. Therefore it will begin to issue free contactless payment stickers with most new Citi credit cards. Current holders of Citi credit cards may also request to receive a free sticker,” said Milan Reznícek, Citibank credit card product manager. He added, “Payments using contactless stickers are faster, more convenient and are secure as well. They can be used at any of the rapidly increasing contactless payment terminals available in the Czech Republic.”

This service is provided with new Citi Life, Citi Life Metropole, Citi Broker Consulting, Citi BILLA and Citi CSA credit cards issued in cooperation with MasterCard. In the near future, contactless stickers will also be automatically provided with the O2 Citi credit cards that are issued in cooperation with VISA.

The sticker can be placed in any location such as back of a cell phone or on a key fob. Current holders of Citi credit cards may apply for a free contactless payment sticker by calling the toll-free CitiPhone customer line or by visiting a Citibank branch. Should a contactless payment sticker be provided to a client who does not want to use it, the client does not need to activate the sticker and can just destroy it. Stickers that are sent by mail are inactive and cannot be used for payments without activation.