Worldwide Mobile Payment Users to Reach 141 Million in 2011 – Gartner Says

Worldwide mobile payment users will surpass 141.1 million in 2011, a 38.2 percent increase from 2010, when mobile payment users reached 102.1 million, according to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide mobile payment volume is forecast to total $86.1 billion, up 75.9 percent from 2010 volume of $48.9 billion.

IAB reveals consumers’ spend on mobile increases

Near Field Communication (NFC) was seen as a positive move for mobile with 74% of consumers stating they felt the service would be a good idea. The products that M-Commerce consumers said they would be most happy to purchase via NFC were travel (57%), entrance fees (51%) and drinks/snacks (49%).

GSMA Names BARCELONA First Mobile World Capital!

After an 18-month search, the GSMA today announced that Barcelona has been selected as the Mobile World Capital from 2012 to 2018.

Transport for London to accept NFC payments from 2012

Transport for London (TfL) has stated it will support NFC payments on mobile phones in 2012. TfL is now in the process of deploying new contactless card readers on London's tube and bus network. This will enable users of contactless EMV credit and debit cards and NFC mobile phones to 'swipe and go' on the London Underground and associated services.

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Apple Getting Serious About Near Field Communication on the iPhone »

NFC security takes a step closer Will Wave and Pay really work?

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A new deal that aims to secure future mobile phone payments handsets has been inked.

The partnership between chipmaker ARM and G&D, the world’s second largest smartcard manufacturer, may bring chip-and-PIN levels of security to mobile apps, and also aspires to secure NFC (Near Field Communication) technologies.

The agreement will see G&D’s Mobicore operating system embedded into future ARM chips, which are currently used by mobile manufacturers including Apple and Nokia. The tiny OS will fire up whenever a secure transaction is initiated, ensuring that intercepting the details will be more difficult. Contactless payment systems such as NFC have been generally stalled by a lack of agreement over security standards and hardware.

Richard Brown, ARM mobile manager said: “This initiative will provide a basis for future NFC and remote payment systems to build upon. Because the G&D OS is separate to the phone OS, any other OS, from Android to Symbian can be used. We will release security APIs for the product shortly, and expect products to be on shelves within 18 months.”

Card payment firms such as Visa are also keen on rolling out the NFC technology, going so far as to pledge that the 2012 Olympics will be entirely cashless for visitors. More than 5,000 retailers, including McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme and Eat have signed up to the ‘wave and pay’ scheme.

A recent report predicted that the market for mobile phone-based authentication products and services will generate $153 million in 2010 and that the market will grow to almost $760 million in revenue by 2014; an increase of $607 million.

In addition, by 2014, almost 114 million unique users will generate nearly $760 million in revenue for technology vendors involved in products and services that enable the mobile phone to become an authentication device, according to the analyst report from Goode Intelligence.