Google and First Data Blaze Trail for Mobile Money

Google Chief Outlines Vision for NFC

February 21, 2011

NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com - An NFC-enabled mobile phone that knows you need new trousers, knows where you are at any given time, and can tell you the nearest place to buy a pair is the vision of outgoing Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

Confirming that NFC, enabled by the coming wave of Android smartphones outfitted with near field communications technology, could turn into a serious business for the company, Schmidt said Google could work with advertisers to "extend offers to phones with NFC chips".

He told delegates at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week that NFC chips, such as the one in the Nexus S, can be used as a secure ID for electronic transactions, and presented a "mega opportunity" for Google.

"NFC has been around for a long time but everything has just started to come together," said Schmidt, who will turn over the chief executive role to Google co-founder Larry Page in April, but will stay on at the company with the title of executive chairman.

Outlining his vision for how the technology would work in practice, he added:

"I'm walking down the street and I need pants [trousers]. My phone has an NFC chip. It knows where I am. It tells me about two stores, one to the left with a 20% discount and one to the right with a 30% [discount].

"It is programmed to know I am a cheapskate so points me to the right and the store knows what pants I want.

"You don't think this is going to work, guys? Trust me, this is consumerism."

"You don't think this is going to work, guys? Trust me, this is consumerism."

Schmidt noted that consumers would have to opt in to such a mobile promotion and shopping service so that the application and databases, located in the cloud, would be able to act on their likes and dislikes and buying patterns. Schmidt didn't say anything about Google offering a payment service itself, though speculation continues that it would be involved in the payment transaction.

His speech at the conference backed up an article he wrote last month in the Harvard Business Review, in which he explained that mobile money is one of three key areas of focus for Google in 2011.

In December, Google included support for NFC in the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and near field communication functionality is also included in the Nexus S smartphone.

The company launched its first NFC marketing service in Portland, Oregon the same month, while it emerged last week that Austin, Texas, will be the second location for Google's roll-out of its NFC Hotpot marketing service.

As with the service already live in Portland, the 'Recommended on Google' stickers being distributed in Austin contain an NFC tag. Consumers equipped with an NFC phone simply touch their phones to the posters in order to access information on the service provider via the Google Places with Hotpot service.

Google has now released Android 2.3.3, an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread, specifically designed to add more NFC functionality to the operating system.

More than Half of UK Retailers Considering Implementing NFC

April 17, 2011

NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com - More than half of UK retailers are considering using NFC technology as part of their overall mobile strategy, citing competitive pressures and customer demand as key drivers for this decision.

That is the result of a survey by mobile application creator Kony, which interviewed 100 marketing and IT directors at UK retail businesses, along with 1,000 consumers, to get their thoughts on the industry.

The researchers found that 57% of retailers surveyed are considering using NFC as part of their mobile strategy.

A quarter of consumers already want to use their mobiles to pay for items in-store as opposed to using cards or cash, despite the low awareness of the technology among consumers, the report explains.

Consumers cited convenience (59%) as the main reason for wanting to use mobile payments. But security concerns (39%) remain a key reason why consumers say they don't want to pay with mobile, suggesting a real opportunity for retailers to increase interest in mobile payments by addressing these concerns and this lack of education, since NFC provides significant security advantages, says Kony.

Overall, the survey found retailers were taking a lax approach to mobile commerce, however, despite many claiming they know the technology will become far more prevalent over the next two years.

The research, conducted by Vanson Bourne, revealed that 42% of retailers believe mobile commerce is already affecting shopping behaviour at physical retail locations, while a staggering 89% already believe mobile will be as popular as e-commerce.

However, less than one in five retailers surveyed reported having a mobile strategy fully in place, and almost a third have no plans to implement one at all.

"The aim of this study was to assess the preparedness of UK retailers for mobile in relation to consumer expectations and demands," says David Eads, head of product marketing at Kony.

"The results show a significant discrepancy between retailers' anticipations of the impact of mobile and the strategies that they currently have in place to facilitate this demand. It is clear that mobile is already affecting shopping habits and has the potential to overtake e-commerce in the next few years," he continues.

First Data Launches NFC TSM

April 7, 2011

NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com - The payments processing giant and NFC TSM specialist SK C&C say their service has been released in time to coincide with a 'tipping point' for NFC.

Payments processing giant First Data and mobile commerce solutions developer SK C&C USA
have announced the commercial release of a trusted service manager (TSM) solution, offering what they describe as "the most secure NFC payment service available".

The First Data TSM provides the infrastructure, functionality and comprehensive business service to enable over-the-air (OTA) provisioning and management of a variety of accounts to any mobile device for use at a physical point of sale.

The two companies first announced a strategic partnership designed to offer turnkey NFC-based TSM and mobile wallet services to First Data's US banking and merchant customer base in September 2010.

Underlining the importance of the timing of the release Dom Morea, SVP of mobile commerce solutions at First Data, said:

"We're nearing a tipping point where connected consumers with access to a range of NFC-enabled devices and mobile wallets will be able to migrate all of the accounts in their leather wallet to their mobile device in order to make payments at any time or exchange value, anywhere."

SK C&C USA chief operating officer Keith Smith added that the firm — the US arm of Korean mobile commerce specialist SK C&C — was proud to have met the deadline set out last September to introduce the TSM by the end of the first quarter on 2011.

Last month, First Data launched mVoucher, a mobile marketing service for merchants that builds on existing gift card systems and provides the potential for a full service NFC wallet to be offered in the future.

NFC Phones Used to Check LA Metro Passengers’ Tickets

April 5, 2011

nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com - Ticket inspectors working for the public transport operators in Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St Paul are now using NFC phones to read passengers' contactless transport tickets and check they have paid their fare.

Transport officials in two US cities are using NFC technology to check passengers have paid their fares, Mass Transit magazine reports.

The Los Angeles Metro and the Twin Cities Metro Transit in Minneapolis-St Paul were already using handheld devices to check tickets. But Jane Matsumoto, Metro's deputy executive officer, and Metro Transit's senior manager of revenue operations, Tom Randle, said the new technology has made their jobs easier:

"This is our second generation handheld validation device," Matsumoto says. "The original one was bulkier.

"It was cumbersome for our fare inspectors and uniformed law enforcement officers to carry this around. In fact our uniformed officers could not carry it because of its bulk."

"It kind of looked like the thing stores use when they do inventory and they point this gun at a bar code," says Bob Gibbons, Metro Transit's director of customer services.

Both agencies were looking for something smaller and more reliable for their employees to use.

"It is just a far more convenient way to travel around the system with a cell phone device," Matsumoto says.

"They are compact and lightweight and easy to carry. They hold a charge for the working day that the officers need to use them, so they are always available. And they are relatively speedy at reading a card, so they've really done well for us," says Randle.

"One of the biggest concerns with our uniformed officers is that they just simply do not have real estate on their belt buckles to get anything else on there," Matsumoto says.

"The older ones were very large. They were probably about eight inches by about four inches and they were about an inch and a half thick so they were just too cumbersome.

"It required you to carry it in your hand. Well, if you are a fare inspector that is part of your job, but if you are a law enforcement officer, your hands have to be free. You can't have something in your hand.

"Now with the NFC technology with the cell phone they are able to carry it in their pockets."

Currently Los Angeles Metro has 100 NFC phones — believed to be Nokia 6212s — in use and is in the process of acquiring more than six times that amount. Metro Transit has two dozen in use at any time with about six more for spares.

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