WORKING TOGETHER: A BlackBerry with SideTap transacts with a First Data contactless terminal

First Data has signed an agreement with Tyfone which will see the payments processing giant offering the start-up's MicroSD format NFC solution to customers.

"This is a significant partnership as First Data is committed to mobile commerce and is a leader in the payment industry serving more than five million merchant locations, 2,000 card issuers, and millions of consumers worldwide," says the official announcement.

"The partnership enables a neutral mobile commerce solution to be deployed to millions of consumers," it continues. "Tyfone's technology will support First Data's provisioning role, of a trusted service manager (TSM) using SideTap cards as a neutral secure element... First Data and Tyfone will soon begin the process of working with issuers to enable them to offer mobile contactless payments to their customers. Trials will begin as early as mid-2010."

The news follows Tyfone's announcement earlier this month that it has now completed pre-production testing and is gearing up for mass production during the second half of 2010 and Visa's announcement in February that it is to begin field testing DeviceFidelity's MicroSD NFC solution from the second quarter of this year.

"First Data chose Tyfone's SideTap memory card because it best serves the needs of consumers who want to use contactless payment options with over the air access but still want to retain the memory card functionality of their MicroSD card," says First Data's Dom Morea.

"The move to contactless payments is gaining traction," Morea explains. "Consumers have a strong preference for such technology and merchants are using contactless payments to reduce waiting times, increase customer loyalty, and boost sales."

"While the technology may first be released for the US market it has worldwide appeal and is not restricted by geography," he told NFC World. "A fully payments-capable MicroSD with an integrated antenna and memory capabilities is a large milestone towards providing mobile commerce capabilities to the significant population of existing and future mobile phones that are MicroSD capable."

"Tyfone is a technology leader in mobile solutions and brings hardware and software expertise in MicroSD technology, secure element integration and antenna design," Morea continues. "First Data brings expertise in security, payment account provisioning, personalization and account management."

SIDETAP: Tyfone offers secure NFC and memory on a MicroSD card

First Data will offer three versions of Tyfone's SideTap MicroSD card to customers, each able to support both Mifare transport ticketing applications and any GlobalPlatform-compliant payments application such as credit, debit, closed loop, prepaid and gift cards:

• The standard SideTap memory card, which offers an initial 1GB of user memory as well as the contactless payments functionality.
• SideTap Lite, which includes OTA provisioning capability but has no additional user memory.
• SideTap Ultralite, a low cost option without additional memory or OTA capabilities, aimed at closed loop applications.

"We expect that these cards will be sold where consumers buy memory cards today, including retail merchants and major network operators as well as new locations such as mass transit kiosks and financial institution branch locations," say the partners. "SideTap MicroSD cards may also come pre-bundled in handsets."

"For consumers, a SideTap MicroSD card is expected to cost about the same as a standard MicroSD card of the same capacity," they add.

"With over 60% of the mobile phones being sold today with memory slots, memory cards are widely used in the mobile eco-system, making it an ideal form factor for issuers to add contactless payment," explains Dr Siva Narendra, Tyfone's chief technology officer. "However, consumers are unlikely to swap between memory card for payment and storage in their phones. So our SideTap cards integrate storage and contactless payments in the same memory card to enhance consumer’s experience."

"Mobile phone users are familiar with memory cards, many of which are bought directly from their mobile network operators," Narendra adds.

"The promise of MicroSD card-powered technology to drive contactless payments is profound, with the ability to very quickly enable mobile transactions for businesses and their customers," adds Henri Ardevol, general manager of secure transactions at NXP, whose SmartMX chips power the SideTap devices.

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

Related news:

• Tyfone to launch MicroSD NFC solution in second half of 2010
• Tyfone puts NFC into microSD cards
• OnPoint Community Credit Union chooses NFC micro-SD supplier Tyfone for mobile banking launch
• Tyfone granted patent for adding NFC to phones via a memory card
• Visa banks to field test DeviceFidelity’s microSD-based NFC solution

TechIPm, a research and consulting firm specializing in technology and intellectual property mining, has carried out an analysis of the strength of the patent portfolios held by companies in the NFC market.

For its analysis, TechIPm used the Innography intellectual property business intelligence tool, which correlates patent data with financial, litigation and other key business information to generate visualizations of the technology landscape in a particular business sector.

According to TechIPm, "As of Oct. 20 2009, the key IPR holders and their IPR shares for NFC are as follows: Sony (229), Nokia (130), Microsoft (76), Philips (67), Broadcom (65), Samsung (58), Motorola (57), NXP (43), First Data (22), Qualcomm (22), IBM (19), Vodafone (18), and Inside Contactless (17)."

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

Related news:

• Tyfone granted patent for adding NFC to phones via a memory card
• Broadcom to enter NFC market, buys Innovision for $47.5m
• Motorola joins NFC patent pool
• Vivotech awarded key OTA provisioning patent, wins new funding
• ABI ranks contactless transaction and NFC chip suppliers

MOBILE PAYMENTS: Sheetz will use First Data's Go-Tag solution rather than waiting for mass availability of NFC

Follows a successful NFC trial, US convenience store chain Sheetz is to roll out contactless mobile payments across its 350 stores from the end of July. Rather than waiting for the mass availability of NFC handsets, however, the retailer has chosen to move now, using Go-Tag contactless payment stickers produced by First Data.

The Go-Tag solution deployed by Sheetz is configured as an open-loop, reloadable prepaid payment sticker that can be used wherever Visa payWave is accepted. And, for those merchant locations that do not accept contactless payments, the Go-Tag solution also includes a separate magnetic-stripe Visa prepaid card.

"We are always looking for ways to improve the in-store experience for our customers by making purchases faster and more convenient," says Louie Sheetz, executive vice president of marketing at Sheetz. "This new Go-Tag technology will make things easier for customers as well as for our store employees. We are excited to be among the first retailers to implement this system."

"We are pleased to partner with Sheetz on providing consumers a more innovative way to pay for their purchases," says Barry McCarthy, general manager of mobile commerce and point of sale solutions at First Data. "With First Data's Go-Tag solution, Sheetz customers no longer have to carry cash or go through the hassles of storing loose change. By simply tapping their Go-Tag on a contactless reader, the transaction is completed instantly — no waiting or signature required."

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

Related news:

• Sheetz NFC trial hailed a success
• US drivers to pay for fuel using NFC
• Swedish Universities begin roll out of NFC payments system
• Mobilkom Austria customers to use NFC tags to access WAP pages
• China Mobile begins commercial rollout of mobile contactless payments system

SQUARED AWAY: Cubic's deal with Vivotech will see transit operators offered the chance to upgrade 60,000 readers to handle NFC

Cubic Transportation Systems has signed an exclusive software development and licensing agreement with Vivotech that will see its Tri-Reader card processing unit being upgraded to accept payment via contactless bank cards, prepaid cards and NFC handsets.

"With more than 50 million contactless bank cards issued in the US and growing interest among transit operators to add bank card acceptance as a way to pay fares for train and bus rides, this enhanced feature set will add a new level of convenience for those passengers carrying such products," Cubic says. "Transit patrons will have the ability to tap a variety of products from various issuing groups as they board trains and buses."

Under the agreement Cubic will integrate Vivotech's contactless payment software into the latest generation Tri-Reader platforms and will obtain type certification for MasterCard Paypass, Visa PayWave, American Express and Discover cards.

Tri-Reader will then be able to act as an all-in-one contactless reader able to handle contactless bank cards, prepaid products such as First Data's Go-Tag and NFC transactions as well as currrently issued transit cards and those conforming to national transit standards.

Cubic has an installed base of over 60,000 Tri-Readers across 17 major markets around the world. London's Oyster card system, Washington's SmarTrip system and New York/New Jersey's SmartLink system are all supported by Tri-Reader technology.

"Cubic's commitment to providing open standards and interoperability for the transit market is furthered by this agreement," says Steve Shewmaker, president at Cubic Transportation Systems. "It also represents the cross-industry collaboration that is needed between the core suppliers to the transit market and those serving the electronic payments industry."

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

Related news:

• Montreal picks Oberthur for contactless transit ticketing system
• Card and chip suppliers to offer open transport ticketing standard
• China UnionPay begins major expansion of NFC project
• First Data to offer Tyfone’s SideTap NFC MicroSD cards, will run first trials in US from mid-2010
• Eagle Eye Solutions and Vivotech to offer retailers NFC mobile vouchers

NEW MONEY: Vivotech has raised $8.6m in additional funding from its investors

Vivotech has been awarded a key NFC-related software patent covering a broad range of methods, systems and products for the over-the-air (OTA) provisioning of credit, debit, prepaid, loyalty and other payment or non-payment cards into mobile phone devices through wireless networks or the internet.

US patent number 7,469,151 covers Vivotech's "unique methods and system for the provisioning of credit, debit, prepaid, loyalty and other payment or non-payment cards" into NFC mobiles, says the company, including:

• Provisioning of a card could either be initiated by card issuer through a 'push' message or initiated by consumer through the mobile phone
• Consumer self-authentication to enable secure payment card download into an NFC mobile instantly, anytime, anywhere through mobile networks
• A two-server architecture that allows an issuer to utilise a dedicated server in its own premises or operated by a third party on its behalf, and for this server to work with control/configuration server software run by a mobile network operator (MNO) or by a trusted server manager (TSM) on behalf of an MNO
• Ability for an issuer to provision their branded image, customer support information and other relevant information from their plastic cards to the card holder's mobile devices, providing a unique card issuer brand and look and feel on the mobile screen.
• Ability to allow the first time provisioning of a single payment or loyalty card one at a time as well as allowing existing users to provision multiple cards when switching mobile phones.

"This patent is an important milestone for the company and its partners and customers. It demonstrates Vivotech's focus on driving innovation to deliver the next generation of consumer payments" says Vivotech's CEO Michael Mullagh. "Vivotech has a strong portfolio of multiple patents — and additional patents covering several different aspects of mobile payments, promotions and marketing are pending."

The company has also announced it has closed an US$8.6m extension to its Series C round of funding from its existing investors. These include Alloy Ventures, Citi, Draper Fischer Jurvetson, DFJ Gotham, First Data, Miven Ventures, Motorola Ventures, NCR, and Nokia Growth Partners.

Vivotech has now shipped over 470,000 contactless terminals to more than 35 countries worldwide and recently won the Frost & Sullivan 'North American Smart Cards Product Line Strategy of the Year' award.

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

Related news:

• Vivotech readies for mass market with enterprise class NFC solution
• Vivotech picks Zapa for European TSM services
• Vivotech partners with Taggo for NFC and sticker-based loyalty programmes
• Vivotech teams up with Tetherball and with Zapa Technology to offer mobile loyalty solutions to retailers
• French government offers €3m funding for NFC and RFID innovations