Features Section

NFC Ticketing Stuck at the Station: Tech Challenges Contribute to Stall

By: 
Dan Balaban

Five or six years ago, transit ticketing was predicted by many to become first big application service providers would launch when NFC rolled out commercially.

Embedded Chips Expected to Play Key Role in NFC Rollouts

By: 
Dan Balaban

At least two-thirds of NFC phones shipped this year will pack embedded secure elements–offering the potential for service providers to put payment and other secure applications on the chips and avoid working with mobile operators.

Panel: NFC Has Role to Play in Health and Fitness Applications; Though It’s Not for All Uses

By: 
Kiona Smith-Strickland

NFC could have a growing role in health and fitness applications, especially helping to collect and transmit data, though it’s not suited for all uses.

Vendor Groups Release Ticketing Specs While They Wait for Transit Officials to Move on Mobile NFC

By: 
Dan Balaban

The OSPT Alliance, a vendor group that seeks to challenge the dominance of Mifare in contactless transit ticketing, released a second version of its “mobile guidelines” Thursday, which it said would help transit authorities and transit operators to introduce mobile ticketing on NFC phones.

NFC Social Marketing Panel Seeks to Shift Attention Away from Payment

By: 
Kiona Smith-Strickland

Such nonpayment applications as marketing campaigns and loyalty programs are more likely to drive adoption of NFC than payments, panelists told attendees of a recent “NFC Goes Social” event in Boston, organized by the MIT Enterprise Forum's NFC Cluster.

More Consumer Electronics to Incorporate NFC for Connectivity This Year

By: 
Dan Balaban

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – NFC technology this year is likely to make its way into a greater variety of consumer products, including televisions, DVD players, digital cameras, even an automatic vacuum cleaner, if demonstrations at last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas are any indication.

New NXP Tag Line Targets Advertisers and Other Markets

By: 
Kiona Smith-Strickland

With its recent launch of a second-generation of tag products, NXP Semiconductors hopes to tap into what it sees as increasing demand by advertisers for data analytics on prospective customers.

Checking Labels: The Wine Authentication App that Also Promotes the Brand

By: 
Kiona Smith-Strickland

NFC technology companies have promoted the idea of using NFC tags to foil counterfeiters of luxury goods for some time.

NFC Industry Veteran Offers Targeted Ad Opportunity While Waging War on Waiting

By: 
Dan Balaban

U.S.-based Narian Technologies has expanded its NFC app designed to reduce wait times for consumers in stores, restaurants and other retail establishments to also support targeted advertising and offers.

HEADLINE NEWS

Australian Transit Agency to Launch Mobility-as-a-Service Trial as It Pursues Long-Term MaaS Strategy

Plans by Transport for New South Wales, Australia’s largest transit agency, to launch a trial enabling users to plan, book and pay for multimodal rides is the next step toward the agency’s long-ter

Updated: U.S. Transit Agency Seeks to Reduce–Though Not Eliminate–Cash Acceptance with New Fare-Collection System

Updated: The Spokane Transit Authority in Washington state confirmed that its new fare-collection system will include contactless open-loop payments–with a beta test planned for next October, a spokesman told NFC Times' sister publication Mobility Payments.

UK Government Seeks to Bring London-Style Contactless Fare Payments System to Other Regions

The UK government’s plan to equip 700 rail stations over the next three years to accept contactless open-loop payments is a major initiative, as it seeks to replicate the success of London’s contactless pay-as-you go fare payments system elsewhere in the country–a goal that has proved elusive in the past.

More Cities in Finland Expected to Move to Open-Loop Fare Payments

A fourth city in Finland is beginning to roll out contactless open-loop payments, with “more in the pipeline,” according to one supplier on the project, making the Nordic country one of the latest hotspots for the technology.

Moscow Metro Expands Test of ‘Virtual Troika’ in Pays Wallets, as It Continues to Develop Digital-Payments Services

Moscow Metro is recruiting more users to test its “Virtual Troika” card in two NFC wallets, those supporting Google Pay and Samsung Pay, as one of the world’s largest subway operators continues to seek more ways for its customers to pay for rides.

Ohio Transit Agency Expects Significant Revenue Loss as it Builds Equity with Fare Capping

The Central Ohio Transit Authority, or COTA, officially launched its new digital-payments service Monday, including a fare-capping feature that the agency estimates will cost it $1.8 million per year in lost fare revenue, the agency confirmed to Mobility Payments.

Special Report: Interest Grows in ‘White-Label EMV’ for Closed-Loop Transit Cards

As more transit agencies introduce open-loop fare payments, interest is starting to grow in use of white-label EMV cards that agencies can issue in place of proprietary closed-loop cards for riders who don’t have bank cards or don’t want to use them to pay fares.

Swedish Transit Agency Launches Express Mode Feature for Apple Pay, though Most Ticketing Still with Barcode-Based App

Skånetrafiken, the transit agency serving one of Sweden’s largest counties, announced today it has expanded its contactless open-loop payments service to include the Express Mode feature for Apple Pay.

Major Bus Operators in Hong Kong Now Accepting Open-Loop Payments–Adding More Competition for Octopus

Two more bus operators in Hong Kong on Saturday launched acceptance of open-loop contactless fare payments, with both also accepting QR code-based mobile ticketing–as the near ubiquitous closed-loop Octopus card continues to see more competition.

Moscow Metro Launches Full Rollout of ‘Face Pay;’ Largest Biometric Payments Service of Its Kind

Touting it as the largest rollout of biometric payments in the world, Moscow Metro launched its high-profile “Face Pay” service Friday, as expected, and predicted that 10% to 15% would regularly us

Indonesian Capital Seeks to Expand to Multimodal Fare Collection and MaaS

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, whose metropolitan area is home to more than 30 million people, is notorious for its stifling traffic congestion. In response, the government metro and light-rail networks and now it is funding an expansion of the fare-collection system to enable more multimodal payments and to build a mobility-as-a-service platform.

Exclusive: NFC Wallets Grow as Share of Contactless Fare Payments and Not Only Because of Covid

Transit agencies that have rolled out open-loop contactless payments are seeing growing use of NFC wallets to pay fares, as Covid-wary passengers see convenience in tapping their phones or wearables to pay.