NFC World • 22 January 2010

NFC's fortunes will favour the bold

IT HAS become received wisdom in NFC circles that Japan and Korea, where mobile contactless services were successful established by one lead player, are unique and can't be repeated elsewhere.

Instead, it has been assumed that partnerships and cooperative agreements are the way ahead. But management by committee is rarely a good way to get a new business off the ground and Carl Atsushi Hirano, the driving force behind the launch of Japan's Osaïfu Keitai service, agrees. One of the players, he says, must take on the risk for NFC to succeed...

Sarah Clark, Editor

Discover reveals the results of its mobile sticker trial

Since April 2009 the payments network has been running an internal pilot designed to find out how US consumers would respond to the introduction of mobile contactless stickers — with some surprising results.

Full story »

One of the players must take on the risk before NFC can succeed, says founder of Japanese mobile wallet

Carl Atsushi Hirano, the driving force behind the introduction five years ago of Japan's Osaïfu Keitai mobile wallet service, has set out his thinking on what was required to make the service a success and what it will take to successfully introduce NFC services in other countries.

Full story »

Orange and Barclaycard move towards NFC payments launch

The British bank and the mobile network operator have launched a co-branded credit card, described as "the next step in the partnership between Orange and Barclaycard to deliver contactless mobile payments."

Full story »

Poland and Italy commit to contactless payments

The move to contactless cards and NFC-compatible point-of-sale terminals is gathering pace with banks in Italy and Poland announcing plans for widespread contactless card deployments this year.

Full story »

...and from the NFC Newswire:

• Inside Contactless signs development partnership with TazTag

• US smartphone users keen to make payments with their phones

• Blaze customers access their mobile wallets nine times a day

• Vivotech launches contactless POS terminals with built-in mobile marketing functions

• NFC Forum offers competition guidance via webcast

NFC Diary: Industry conferences, meetings, exhibitions and events

Transport Ticketing 2010 • 27-28 January 2010 • London, UK

Mobile World Congress • 15-18 February 2010 • Barcelona, Spain

Next Generation Payments • 21-24 February 2010 • Dubai, UAE

2010 Payments Summit • 23-25 February 2010 • Salt Lake City, USA

WIMA 2010 • 20-22 April 2010 • Monaco

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Banks and mobile operators to go head to head for NFC mobile payments business

Banks and mobile network operators are set to go head to head in a bid to control the market for NFC mobile payments services, according to a new research report by Sarah Clark, editor of Near Field Communications World.

So far, banks and operators have worked together to run field trials of NFC technology but, the report predicts, the emergence of new ways to add near field communication technology to existing mobile phones means they will soon find themselves in competition for control of this important new market.

While a collaborative approach between banks and operators may work in some instances, 'NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment' predicts that most commercial deployments will have only one lead player. And that lead player will not necessarily be a mobile network operator.

"Decisions made in 2010 will be critical in determining which mobile network operators, which banks, which industry suppliers and which service providers become the leaders in the field," says Clark. "Ultimately, only two or three companies in each country will succeed in building a major new business providing NFC services to businesses and consumers. The winners could be banks or mobile operators, or even a new entrant to the market."

"Overall leadership will not be determined by what business the company is currently in," Clark adds. "Instead, it will be based on their overall business strength, on how well they execute their NFC strategy and on the alliances that they put into place."

'NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment' examines the international market for near field communication technology from 2010 to 2014.

The report provides detailed guidance for banks and mobile operators looking to introduce NFC successfully and for companies wishing to offer NFC-based services to their customers. It includes an analysis of the technical and business challenges that still need to be resolved and explains how mobile operators, banks, handset manufacturers, industry suppliers and key potential NFC service providers will resolve those issues during 2010.

The research report is available to purchase today for £797 (approximately €897/US$1,297). Further information and online ordering facilities can be found at http://www.thenfcreport.com/road.

Buyers of this report already include executives in the UK, the USA, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia and Russia working in NFC, mobile and payments industry suppliers • Mobile communications • Finance • Retail • Handset manufacturing • Payments processing • Software and hardware developers and vendors • Trade associations • Standards bodies • Government • Get your copy today!

Transport Ticketing 2010 Conference and Expo • 27-28 January 2010 • London, UK

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