Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association formed

A group of mobile operators and the loyalty programmer operator SuperShop have joined with Mastercard and OTP Bank to form the Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association. The group, which include Magyar Telekom, Vodafone and Telenor, has come together in order to develop the up and coming technology of mobile payments. Not only will they be looking at the technology but also at the best ways of implementing it in the country. They hope to begin trials this year and to be able to launch the technology early next year. Hungary is the third eastern European country to show an interest in mobile payments, after Poland and the Czech Republic.

RBS goes all out to launch contactless card

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are not the first bank to launch a contactless card but they certainly did it with the most fanfare. The first time one of the cards was used was by the Williams Formula 1 team at a McDonald's drive-thru in Billingsgate, London. The quick pitstop was the ideal showcase for the new card, which RBS claims makes paying twice as fast. For transactions under 10 pounds the card can be used without a PIN or a signature, instead it is simply tapped against a special reader. Iain Clink, managing director of cards and direct finance at RBS said:

 

"Having been the first in Europe to trial contactless cards means we know that everyone wins with this new way to pay. People love the convenience and speed of the card as well as the freedom from worrying about whether they have enough change for everyday things like morning coffee, a newspaper or a sandwich at lunchtime. Retailers like contactless cards too because they make paying faster which means faster moving queues and happier customers."

New player in mobile payments

Mobile payments company Dwolla has hit $1 million in daily transactions after seven months in business. By comparison it took Jack Dorsey's Square 10 months to hit the same figure.

 

Unlike Square and other competitors, Dwolla's system bypasses credit and debit networks and takes payments directly from the user's bank account. Dwolla also combine this with social networking and location-based tools. For instance, users can transfer money to their Facebook and Twitter contacts. The system also means that merchants can accept payments without having to install new equipment.

 

Dwolla still faces challenges though as they have been slow to win over merchants and lack the big name of Dorsey.

PayPal goes offline

Not content with being the platform of choice for online payments,
eBay's PayPal plans to move into offline payments. According to Chief
Executive John Donahoe, the company will be trialling a point-of-sale
system towards the end of this year. If the trial is succesful, they
plan to release the service in up to 20 major US retailers. Donahoe
said:

"We intend to help retailers grow their businesses offline in the same
way we helped merchants grow online."

Contactless comes to Austria

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) have launched Austria's first contactless cards in partnership with SIX Card Solutions. SIX specialise in payment technology and have created a card which works with Mastercard's PayPass technology, which gives the benefits of fast and encrypted transactions. The cards use near-field communication technology to process payments with a quick tap on a reader. These transactions are limited to smaller ammounts however, so the cards also contain traditional chip and PIN technology so that customer can make larger purchases and use ATMs.

Isis is joined by payment heavyweights

Although earlier in the year the future of Isis, a joint contactless mobile payments venture by At&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, was uncertain. The announcement this week that American Express, Discover, Visa and Mastercard would all accept payments made via the system, has made it seem a lot more assured. The service is due to go live early next year and the announcement gives it the edge over Google Wallet, currently only compatible with Mastercard.

Hacked customer sues American bank

Thieves stole $465,000 from Village View Escrow in the space of two days and the company are now suing their bank. The California-based company want to be reimbursed the $465,000 as well as to be paid damages for losses due to loan charges and bank fees. They claim that Professional Business Bank did not protect their money properly accordingFederal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) guidelines.

 

The case follows one in Michigan where Experi-Metal succesfully claimed $560,000 from Comerica Bank, after the court ruled the bank should have picked up the fraudulent transactions sooner. However, in a case in Maine, Ocean Bank was not held to be responsible for $345,000 lost by one of their business customers in a cyber attack.

US Bank to offer contactless wristband

VITAband, announced this week, is the new idea from US Bank. The lightweight wristband will not only be able to make contactless payments but will also contain emergency medical and contact information. Customers can preload the device's chip with funds by using an online account. Beth Blaisdell, senior vice president for US Bank Payment Services, said:

 

"VITAband is great for sports enthusiasts or people who are on-the-go and don't want the hassle of carrying cash and identification. It provides contactless payment functionality, along with access to emergency contact and medical information, all in one convenient wristband," 

 

The device, which uses MasterCard's PayPass technology, was trialled by US Bank staff earlier in the year. To develop the wristband, US bank worked in conjunction with MasterCard Worldwide, Vita Products, Oberthur Technologies and FIS.

Centra first to adopt NFC in Ireland

With Ireland's first contactless cards due to be issued later this year by Bank of Ireland, convenience store chain Centra have announced that they will install contactless terminals in their stores. That will make them the first Irish retailer to do so. The technology should launch later this year in selected stores, with a full rollout to their 464 stores in 2012. Centra's marketing manager, Tara Glifford, said:

"With the launch of contactless payments, paying for your cup of coffee in the morning or a sandwich for lunch will be easier and faster than ever."

With around one million of the cards being released late this year, other retailers are expected to follow Centra's example.

Transport for London to go contactless

Starting next year, Transport for London (TfL) will make the move to accepting contactless payments. It is curently in the process of installing near-field communication (NFC) readers across its network of buses and underground trains. Brian Dobson, manager of technology and systems for TfL's Future Ticketing Project said:

 

"We are now in a position to say that if people come along with a contactless credit or debit card application on their mobile, we can accept it as an NFC payment in 2012. NFC will work on our new systems from the time that we are able to accept contactless cards."

 

However, the time a contactless payment takes has raised issues. During peak hours on the underground system TfL has strict speed requirements. The current minimum speed is 350 milliseconds but current NFC payments technology takes around 500 milliseconds. Having made this known to card companies, TfL is now looking at cards which may become available between 2012 and 2014 and which will meet the speed requirement. For now, TfL says that contactless transaction speed are acceptable for low-volume periods.

Australian credit card debt surges

In an increase of nearly 45% in five years, credit card debt in Australia reached $49.4 billion. It is believed that many Australians are maxing out their credit cards in a bid to keep up with escalating living costs. The number of credit and charge card accounts will soon reach 15 million with an average debt of $3322 per card. Despite the growing debt, research suggests one in three people still plan to use their cards to buy something they could not otherwise afford in the next financial quarter. 30% of people also expect to have difficulty repaying the money, while half of low-income earners have a credit card.

PayPal launches contactless mobile payment system

PayPal, owned by EBay Inc., has revealed a new system which will allow users to make payments by tapping their phones on a reader. Using near-field communication (NFC) technology, the system will be available on Samsung Nexus S phones. Compatibility will widen as more NFC-enabled handsets are released. Laura Chambers, PayPal Mobile's senior director, said:

 

"What we're doing is testing out NFC. We're getting it into the markets, we're getting it into the hands of consumers and we'll see how it goes."

 

 

Mobile payments will go mainstream

A new survey by KPMG has revealed that major banks and business believe mobile payments will become mainstream in the next few years. This belief is leading more than 80% of them to look at incorporating m-commerce into their business models, according to the KPMG Monetising Mobile survey.

 

However, the report also highlighted than some banks and business are still sceptical about the merging technology, feeling unsure that customers are ready for it. KPMG said:

"For banks that are still standing on the sidelines of the race for mobile payments solutions this is a critical juncture – continued delay may risk the loss of market share."

Europe to create NFC logo

Mobile operators in Europe have agreed to create a single, shared logo that will allow users to instantly spot where they can use their contactless cards and phones to make purchases. Telefonica 02, Vodafone, Deutsche Telecom, Telecom Italia and France Telecom Orange are to create the new logo, which they hope will drive usage of the technology up.

 

The NFC Forum has already created the 'n-mark' for this purpose but the operators feel that this doesn't have a strong enough visual presence. Nick Wilikin from O2 said:

"This is something we all think is necessary. It's very much in the discussion stage at the moment, but we all agree it's something we should have."

McDonald's introduces contactless in Canada

As of last week, contactless payments were launched in 1,400 McDonald's restaurants across Canada. The new terminals will allow fast-food diners to pay for their meal with either a contactless enabled smartphone of credit card and work with both Visa PayWave and Mastercard PayPass technology. David E. Orzel, head of market development for MasterCard Canada, said:

"McDonald's prides itself on efficiency and we expect that McDonald's customers will appreciate how this technology will improve their overall experience."

Currently only available for counter service, the technology will be added to drive throughs later in the year.

Contactless comes to Slovakia

Gemalto will supply NFC-enabled stickers for mobile payments which will be issued by UniCredit Slovakia. The stickers allows ordinary mobile phones to be used for tap and go payments up to 20 euros. There are around 3,000 locations in Slovakia which currently have contactless readers. Gemalto has said that the stickers are ready for an "immediate" launch.

'One-click' too obvious to patent

The European Patent Office (EPO) has refused to grant a patent for Amazon's 'One-click' payment system. The system allows users to make purchases with the click of a single button on the webpage and has already been granted a patent in the US. However, the EPO ruled that the system was reliaon 'prior art', i.e. existing inventions.

 

To qualify for a patent, inventions must be new, not too obvious and useful to the industry. The Amazon system allows registered users who have previously entered their payment details to make with the click of a single button. The EPO said:

"The Board does not consider that the idea of reducing the number of steps necessary to make an order would contribute to inventive step."

Bank of Ireland to offer contactless cards

Bank of Ireland have launched contactless Visa debit cards for their customers, allowing them to pay for purchases of less than 15 euros in under a second. Utilising near-field communications (NFC) the cards are held over a special reader to process the transaction.

 

If too many payments are attempted in this way though, or if any exceed 15 euros, a PIN will be required. The cards also have exactly the same consumer protection as their predecessors. Quentin Teggin, head of consumer segments at the Bank of Ireland, said:

"This new technology has been firmly embraced in Europe with over 20m cards in circulation and we are delighted to be the first in Ireland to issue Visa debit cards with contactless payment capability."

'Too many banks' according to EU watchdog

A fragmented market and the lack of an integrated payment system mean that European banks cannot compete effectively with their American and Chinese counterparts, according to Joaquin Almunia, the EU's competition commisioner. In an interview with the Financial Times, he said:

 

"I would not have any problem with observing a process of reducing the number of players at the European Union level. We have a lot -- too many."

Apple latest hacking target

After Sony, Citigroup and Google, Apple have become the latest big company to be targeted by hackers. A group called Antisec posted a tweet on Sunday in which they claimed to have stolen sensitive information from the technology giant.

Antisec said they had retrieved a number of administrator usernames and passwords by exploiting a weakness in software used by Cupertino, but also said: "But don´t worry, we are busy elsewhere."

Although it seems payment information is safe, this is another worrying incident in what is becoming a hacking trend.

Apple declined to comment.

PayPal expects $3 billion mobile payments this year

PayPal have increased their mobile payments forecast for the third time this year, to $3 billion. This is double the company's intitial forecast of just $1.5 billion. The reason for the increase is a large and unexpected rise in the usage of PayPal's mobile payment service. Laura Chambers, the company's Mobile Senior Director, said in a blog post:

 

"Mobile payments are growing at a rate we never could have imagined when we started processing them back in 2006 – in fact, this is the third time we've had to update our mobile 2011 projections."

Contactless trial a failure

ANZ Bank has announced that it will not be pursuing contactless paymentshe form trialled earlier this year. In the trial the bank worked with Visa's Paywave system to issue NFC-enabled MicroSD cards to members of its staff. However, the use of the MicroSD cards was not a satisfactory way to implement the technology.

 

The bank is now looking at other ways to bring contactless payments to its customers but its next move is unclear. Some feel ANZ will look at devices with built-in capability such as the Nokia N9 or Samsung Nexus S but all the bank had to say was that they will "continue to look for ways to support contactless payments in the market". Also adding:

 

"Overall, we found the trial extremely useful as it confirmed that customers like to use contactless for low-value transactions under $100. Contactless is an extremely exciting piece of innovative technology and we're looking forward to seeing how we can implement it for our customers in the future."

Citibank launches contactless cards in Czech Republic

Citibank have launched the first contactless Shell Mastercard credit cards in the Czech Republic. Holders of the new cards will be able to make contactless payments at all Shell garages in the country along with any other retail outlet which has adopted the technology.

George Denisenko, Citibank's head of consumer lending in the country, said that the new cards, which use Mastercard's PayPass technology, will make paying for things quicker and easier for the bank's customers.

Post Office becomes largest retailer to adopt contactless

The 12,000 branches of the UK's Post Office will be ready to accept contactless payments as early as October 2012. This will make it the largest retailer yet to do so. 30,000 terminals will be installed to allow customers to 'tap and go'. Contactless transactions are currently limited to £15 but 60% of Post Office transactions fall within this limit.