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Orange and Barclaycard partner to launch NFC in the UK

Sarah Clark — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:44:14 +0000

All customers are expected to be able to use their phones to pay for everyday items within three years in "the biggest revolution in payments since plastic cards were introduced over 40 years ago."

REVOLUTION: Orange and Barclaycard's partnership will bring mobile payments to a customer base of 28m people — around half the UK's population

Orange and Barclaycard have formed a long-term strategic partnership to bring mobile payments to British consumers. The communication and banking giants, who have a combined UK customer base of 28 million people, will jointly develop solutions that "let customers use their mobile to both make payments and stay in better control of their finances".

Under the agreement, Orange and Barclaycard will launch co-branded Orange/Barclaycard products and services in a range of markets:

Customers will be able to use their mobiles to pay for goods and services at retailers using contactless technology, by simply waving their handset against a reader. Both companies will be looking to expand the partnership to include other contactless services within ticketing, transport and rewards. MasterCard will provide the payment capabilities for the transactions.
The partnership between Barclaycard and Orange will also enable market-leading mobile alerts, servicing capabilities and new banking applications, all of which will help customers keep in control of their finances while on the move.
Over the next few months customers will start to see the benefits of the partnership with a host of marketing opportunities currently being finalised by Orange and Barclaycard.

"Today you pay for things by cash or on your credit card," says Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK. "Tomorrow, you'll use your mobile to buy the things you want, whether that's on the high street or the internet."

"These are the services that will change the way we live and work for the better, and are evolving the way we interact with each other and the way that companies serve us," he added. "This new partnership with Barclaycard is at the forefront of that kind of thinking, and our customers will benefit from the leading-edge technology that both Orange and Barclaycard can provide."

Antony Jenkins, CEO of Barclaycard, said: "This partnership brings together a leader in communications and the UK's leading payments brand with the aim of revolutionising the way people pay. There has been a lot of talk about mobile payments and now it's going to become a reality for our customers because of Barclaycard's commitment to contactless technology and the coming together of two dynamic and imaginative organisations."

"Both Barclaycard and Orange have a heritage of innovation and can see how mobile communications and payments can come together for the benefit of our customers," he added. "I believe that all our UK customers will be able to use their mobile phones to pay for everyday items within three years."

Orange, Barclaycard and MasterCard all have a long history of involvement in testing mobile payments:

Barclaycard introduced contactless technology on credit cards in September 2007 with the launch of Barclaycard OnePulse, a three-in-one Oyster, credit and contactless card. All Barclaycard Platinum cards now include contactless technology and over 1.5 million contactless Barclaycards are now in issue.
Barclays Bank began rolling out contactless Visa debit cards across the UK at the beginning of March. Up to three million customers are expected to have been issued with contactless debit cards by the end of the year and the majority of Barclays debit card customers will have contactless cards by 2011.
Barclaycard took part in a six month trial of the O2 Wallet in London from November 2007 to May 2008 with Transport for London, Visa Europe, TranSys, Nokia and AEG.
Around 8,000 retailers already accept contactless payments including many outlets of Pret A Manger, Coffee Republic, EAT, Books etc, Krispy Kreme, Threshers and thousands of independent retailers, with more installing the technology every week.
Under the UK's contactless card system, consumers can use their cards to make transactions of £10 or less without entering a PIN.
In January, Orange revealed it had been working with smart card and SIM specialist Sagem Orga for more than a year to develop a custom SWP-enabled NFC SIM that is tailored to the mobile operator's specific requirements.
In November 2008, MasterCard launched Mobile MasterCard PayPass, a solution designed to make it easy for member banks to offer NFC services to their cardholders.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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O2 Academy music venues to provide test beds for NFC

Sarah Clark — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:15:51 +0000

Mobile operator O2 has signed a deal which will see eleven major music venues across the UK rebranded as an 'O2 Academy'. O2 will offer customers a series of benefits such as priority access to tickets and will use the venues to test a range of NFC-based services.

British mobile operator O2, which is quickly building a reputation as an NFC innovator, has signed a deal which will see eleven major 'Academy' music venues across the UK rebranded with the O2 name under a strategic alliance between the venue owners and the mobile operator.

LONDON CALLING: O2 will showcase NFC at 11 more music venues, including the world famous Brixton Academy

"The alliance will boost support for future music talent and enhance the music experience for fans visiting the venues as well as allow O2 to offer a number of benefits for its customers," says O2.

Customers will gain priority access to tickets to all gigs at the venues, as well as other events organised by Live Nation which, with Metropolis Music and SJM Concerts, is a major shareholder in Academy Music Group, the venues' owner and operator. A series of innovative, additional services are also being hinted at.

"Through this partnership we are not only looking to benefit O2 customers, but to also enhance the live experience for all artists and music fans," explained Ronan Dunne, Telefonica O2 UK's chief executive.

"We intend this partnership to take O2's position in live music to new heights and allow us to market our concerts and artist-related products to millions of O2 customers and drive incremental ticket sales," added Simon Lewis, international president of music marketing partnerships at Live Nation.

And John Northcote, CEO at Academy Music Group, said "O2 has a dedicated programme and track record of rewarding their customers and embracing new methods of communication, as well as supporting new and emerging artists."

Here's what O2 has so far revealed about its plans:

O2 will work closely with Live Nation/AMG to enhance the concert-going experience, developing technologies like mobile ticketing which is both convenient and environmentally friendly, and utilize the venues to assess the benefits of contactless NFC (Near Field Communication) technology in the music industry.
O2 customers may also be able to enjoy other unique benefits that will significantly enhance their experience, including fast track entry, creating areas for O2 customers and their guests where they can relax before and after events, and opportunities to text ahead for special benefits.
O2 will also have first option to exclusive live content from O2 Academy gigs and will work closely with the artists to make this content available for download to mobile handsets. Through its Napster and MyPlay music services, O2 has a variety of platforms available for artists to distribute their music directly to fans.

O2 has already run a number of NFC trials in the UK:

A highly successful six month 'O2 Wallet' trial took place in London between November 2007 and May 2008. Five hundred people took part in the test, designed to discover consumer demand for having payment and travel cards available on an NFC mobile phone, and was conducted jointly with Transport for London, Barclaycard, Visa Europe, TranSys, Nokia and AEG.
At London Fashion Week in February 2008, an O2 NFC system was used to allow fashion buyers to give instant feedback on the latest Emilio de la Morena collection. Installed for the designer's catwalk show at the Science Museum, the system enabled buyers to touch an NFC phone to smart posters featuring the different designs on offer in order to register their interest in a particular design. This instant feedback allowed the label to find out which designs were most popular and to make any necessary changes to the collection before its Paris fashion show only two weeks later.
In June 2008, O2 began a trial designed to protect care workers in the field while they are visiting patients. 120 healthcare workers were issued with NFC handsets for remote community care access and NFC tags are used to enable workers to access patient records on their handsets and log their whereabouts when they are visiting patients to enhance safety measures when workers are making house calls.
In July 2008, VIPs at the O2 Wireless Festival were able to access 'VIPee' NFC-secured toilets. Selected guests could access luxury cubicles on site simply by tapping an NFC wristband to a special reader.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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TfL reports to London Assembly on future of Oyster

Sarah Clark — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:48:40 +0000

Transport for London now looks pretty set on its plan to replace its prepaid Oyster contactless card system with a bank-card compatible solution. Both contactless bank cards and NFC are options being considered and TfL will definitely outsource delivery of the new system to the private sector

At a meeting of the London Assembly’s Budget and Performance Committee on October 21st, Transport for London representatives confirmed they are looking at various technologies and providers to take over from its existing Oyster prepaid contactless card system in 2010.

Will Judge, head of future ticketing at TfL, said they wanted the new ticketing system to be contactless, fast and convenient and explained that new advances in technology meant the system could be delivered on a smart card – like the Oyster card – or on a phone or bank card.

When TfL considers the new technology, Judge added, they would not try to do it in-house, but would take advantage of good practice elsewhere. TfL also told the Committee they are investigating whether Oyster – and its successor – could be integrated with other parts of London transport. It is hoped that Oyster will be available on the capital’s riverboat services next year.

Commenting on the decision to terminate the contract with TranSys, Judge said that TfL believed it would save millions of pounds by moving to a more conventional contract than the one agreed for Oyster. He said TfL intended to break the new contract up into modules and let each bit individually.

Assembly Members also heard that the new ticketing system could have a different name and that the Oyster brand could be lost forever.

“This Committee is interested to hear about the new technologies that TfL is exploring for the delivery of their new ticketing system," concluded John Biggs AM, Chair of the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee. "We will look with interest during our examination of TfL’s business plan to see what level of savings is achieved.”

Full video coverage of the meeting can be viewed on the London Assembly website, by clicking through to a webcast of the Budget and Performance Committee — 21 October.

A little background on the current status of Oyster:

In August, TfL announced it was terminating early its existing contract with TranSys for delivering Oyster, after the system suffered a serious breakdown on more than one occasion.
TfL executives have suggested at various industry meetings this year that they would like to move away from a proprietary system where they act as card issuer and towards an open system built around contactless card standards where travellers could use their contactless bank card or NFC phone on London's public transport system.
TfL ran the UK's first large-scale NFC pilot over six months from November 2007 in partnership with O2, Barclaycard, Nokia, Transys, Visa and AEG using 500 mobile phones with built-in Oyster card technology.
In September, Barclaycard announced a plan to expand its OnePulse product, a three-in-one Oyster, credit card and prepaid card. "In time you won't have to carry a plastic credit card around with you if you don't want to, although some people will choose to for nostalgic reasons," said Barclaycard chief executive Antony Jenkins as he explained plans to move towards the introduction of mobile phone-based services.
TfL also ran an NFC-based smart poster trial in 2007 at Blackfriars station where travellers could get maps, directions and real-time travel advice transmitted to their mobile phones.

This article was first published at www.NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com.

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