Mobile Ecosystem & TheBestAvise – Interviews, News and more …
Mobile Payments
Mobile payments boost as Visa certifies more handsets for payWave
3 weeks ago
More NFC-enabled smartphones from vendors including Samsung and Research In Motion (RIM) were certified to work with card giant Visa’s payWave mobile application on Tuesday, as the mobile payments industry continues to mature.
Visa Europe announced that the Samsung Galaxy S II, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 were all compatible with the system, paving the way for greater consumer use of the service.Apple, after all rumors happened last year, absentee in NFC arena for now.
In June 2011, Vodafone, O2 and Everything, Everywhere announced a partnership to create a SIM-based mobile payment system for the UK, building on the work done by Orange and Barclaycard with their Quick Tap initiative.
“We are working with our member banks, mobile network operators and key handset partners to ensure that future payment technologies are as easy, intuitive and secure as card-based transactions are today,” said Sandra Alzetta, head of mobile business unit and innovation, strategy, at Visa Europe.
“Today’s announcement plays a significant role in getting those new technologies into the hands of the consumer.”
The card giant said the payWave certified devices would be compatible with existing NFC terminals to enable Visa account holders to wave their devices in front of the terminals in participating outlets to pay for goods.
Ovum analyst Eden Zoller cautioned about false dawns for the m-commerce industry, despite the clear momentum now behind mobile payments.
Samsung, LG, RIM smartphones certified by Visa to be used as mobile payment devices
3 weeks ago
Visa Inc. and Visa Europe on Wednesday have certified NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Research In Motion (RIM) for use with Visa’s mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave.
The smartphones which have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products are Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.
This will help mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators and retailers to partner with financial institutions to offer Visa mobile payment functionality to consumers globally.
These devices have got certifications from Visa host the Visa payWave application on a secure SIM card and feature NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, the short range communications standard that enables mobile phones to securely transmit payment information to a contactless payment terminal.
“This is an important step for Visa, its financial institution partners and the mobile industry,” said Bill Gajda, Global Head of Mobile Product, Visa Inc. “In addition to issuing plastic magnetic stripe or chip-enabled payment cards, financial institutions can now consider offering their accountholders a way to transform their smartphones into fully functional mobile payment devices.”
Google and Visa Team Up on Mobile Payments
4 months ago
Source: REUTERS:
Google Inc has enlisted Visa Inc in its effort to push mobile payments, striking an agreement to allow Visa account-holders to pay for store purchases with their smartphones.
Visa comes onboard a “Google Wallet” project already supported by Citigroup, MasterCard, Sprint Nextel Corp and First Data. In May, the group announced a trial of a system that lets shoppers store money on phones and pay at checkout.
Rival Isis, a venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA, has already signed partnerships with all the major card networks, including MasterCard and Visa.
But while Sprint announced the launch of the Google Wallet service on Monday, Isis has said its rival service will not launch until early next year.
Google’s system competes with plans by other top U.S. banks and mobile phone companies and employs near-field communication (NFC) technology, used widely in Asia.
On Monday, Google and Visa said the Internet search leader had received a worldwide license to Visa’s “paywave” — similar to Mastercard’s PayPass — enabling its installation on Android smartphones. Customers link their credit or debit bank accounts to Android phones with the Google Wallet app installed.
They can then tap their phones — which come with an NFC chip — at specially installed terminals at checkout to effect a purchase.
“This agreement extends Google Wallet to Visa account holders worldwide,” said Stephanie Tilenius, Google’s vice president of Commerce and Payments.
“This is a crucial step toward realizing our shared vision for the future of mobile commerce.”
For U.S. banks, mobile payments are a way to wean their customers off the use of cash and generate more revenue. Merchants pay banks a fee every time a shopper buys something with a credit or debit card and Google said it would not take a cut of those fees from the new pay-by-phone system.
