Near Field Communications World » Giesecke & Devrient

La Caixa reports first results from Sitges NFC trial

Sarah Clark — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:32:57 +0000

The first results of the NFC payments trial taking place in Sitges, Spain show that 60% of the participants have so far used their phone to make a payment, Benjamí Puigdevall, CEO of e-La Caixa, has told Spanish financial publication CincoDias.

The Mobile Shopping Sitges 2010 trial began on 27 May. It is led by mobile network operator Movistar, part of the Telefónica group, La Caixa and Visa and includes the participation of Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Samsung, Ingenico and the Sitges city council. 1,500 customers of both Telefónica and banking group La Caixa are taking part in the trial along with 500 of the town's merchants.

By late July, La Caixa expects 80% of consumers to have used their NFC phones, Puigdevall told CincoDias. To date, NFC payments have been made at 60% of the participating merchants and the average merchant has seen three NFC transactions at an average transaction value of €30.

75% of transactions have taken place during the working week with Saturdays seeing only 19% of transactions, says Puigdevall. 52% have taken place in supermarkets and 14% in restaurants with smaller transaction volumes taking place in a variety of other outlets such as textile shops, perfume retailers, shoe stores, tobacco shops and florists.

50% of the transactions have been conducted by consumers aged between 26 and 45 with a further 30% being conducted by those aged between 46 and 55.

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

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PTC, Inteligo and MasterCard test NFC payments in Poland

Sarah Clark — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:37:09 +0000

The 100 participants can use their Samsung NFC phones to make payments at any of 10,000 points of sale in Poland that are already equipped to handle PayPass contactless transactions.

FIRST: Online bank Inteligo and mobile network Era have launched Poland's first NFC payments trial

Mobile network operator PTC has begun Poland's first NFC payments trial, in collaboration with Inteligo, an online bank owned by PKO Bank Polski, and MasterCard.

The trial began on 20 May and will run for four months. One hundred customers of both Inteligo and PTC's Era mobile service, including a number of VIPs and journalists, are taking part in the trial. Each participant has been provided with a Samsung S5230 NFC phone, branded as Avila in Poland. Other suppliers taking part in the trial include Giesecke & Devrient and Venyon.

Transactions valued at up to PLN 50 (about €12) can be made without a PIN and a daily transaction limit of PLN 300 (about €70) has been set, although this can be increased at the customer's request. For larger purchases, customers have to enter their PIN at the sales outlet's POS terminal to authorise the transaction.

Adoption of contactless debit cards and POS terminals is moving fast in Poland and the trial participants can use their NFC phones at any of 10,000 PayPass acceptance points around the country. These include cafés, restaurants and fast food outlets, bookshops, Shell petrol stations, Żabka convenience stores, Sferis computer stores and Kolporter media and newspaper stands as well as some sports stadiums and taxis.

PTC is the third largest mobile network operator in Poland and is 93% owned by T-Mobile. Last year, it partnered with Polbank EFG for the introduction of a co-branded PayPass contactless sticker that can be attached to the back of a customer’s mobile phone. The card is linked to the customer's bank account and offers standard PayPass debit card functionality.

Next month, mobile network operator Polkomtel and BZ WBK bank are also set to begin an NFC payments trial. The five hundred participants in the trial will receive Samsung Avila phones which will be loaded over the air with a Visa PayWave application.

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

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Telefónica Movistar, La Caixa and Visa begin pre-commercial NFC pilot in Spanish resort of Sitges

Sarah Clark — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:50:31 +0000

1,500 customers of Telefónica and La Caixa have been issued with Samsung S5230 NFC phones which they can use to make debit and credit card payments in taxis, sports centres, at market stalls and in retail stores.

SITGES: 1,500 participants can use Samsung NFC handsets at 500 merchants in the Spanish resort

The pre-commercial NFC trial in the Spanish resort of Sitges, announced in February, has gone live.

The 'Mobile Shopping Sitges 2010' pilot is being led by mobile network operator Movistar, part of the Telefónica group, La Caixa and Visa and includes the participation of Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Samsung, Ingenico and the Sitges city council.

1,500 customers of both Movistar and La Caixa have been chosen to participate in the pilot and can use their Samsung S5230 NFC phones to make payments using their La Caixa credit or debit card accounts at 500 merchants in the town.

Transactions valued at up to €20 can be made without a PIN and larger transactions can be carried out provided the customer enters their PIN on the keypad of the merchant's POS terminal to confirm the purchase.

Each of the pilot's participants are being given training on how to use their phones and a website providing comprehensive information on the new service and how it works has been set up by Telefónica at www.mobileshopping.es.

"Telefónica will expand the offer to use its technology to other banks, and expects that La Caixa will partner with other platforms in addition to Visa," Kim Faura, head of Telefonica's Catalonia region, has told Europa Press.

The pilot is scheduled to last for six months. Participants will not be required to return their NFC phones at the end of the pilot, however, as there are plans to both continue the service in Sitges and to expand it to the city of Barcelona, just 35km up the coast from the resort.

The start of the Sitges pilot is the second of a pair of significant moves towards the adoption of NFC by Telefónica to take place in the last seven days. Earlier this week, we reported that the company's first commercial NFC service has gone live in the Czech city of Pilsen and that Telefónica's business strategy for NFC deployments is now in place. An NFC bus ticketing trial is also due to go live in the near future in Lima, Peru.

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

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Telefónica O2 launches its first commercial NFC service — and sets out strategy for future deployments

Sarah Clark — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:26:48 +0000

The mobile network operator is starting small with a limited rollout in the Czech city of Pilsen but a business strategy is now in place and commercial launches in the UK and Spain could be next.

TELEFONICA: Commercial launches in the UK and Spain will follow soon

Telefónica O2 Czech Republic has put a limited number of NFC phones, pre-loaded with the local Plzeň transport and city services card, on sale in the Czech city of Pilsen.

The launch of the new service marks the first time that Telefónica, which offers mobile services in sixteen countries in Europe and Latin America, has offered NFC phones on a commercial basis to its subscribers. For the launch, Telefónica O2 subscribers can obtain a Nokia 6212 Classic NFC phone on a contract for 495 crowns (US$24), or without a contract for 4495 crowns (US$216), from any of the operator's six stores in Pilsen.

The Plzeň card is issued by the city's regional transport operator PMDP and allows local residents to pay for public transport, purchase tickets to local events, make payments in local stores and receive special cardholder-only discounts. Some 230,000 local residents currently hold a Plzeň card.

"Now anyone can buy a mobile phone that supports NFC and start benefiting from this service," says Michael Kraus, CEO at PMDP. "I know of no other city in Europe where [there is] NFC technology in commercial operation."

Preparations

At Telefónica's head office in Madrid, meanwhile, preparations are gathering pace for the introduction of larger scale commercial deployments in the near future.

Technical development work in now complete, Michiel Van Eldik, Telefónica's group director for new business and innovation, has told NFC World, and a business strategy for NFC services is now in place. Key to that strategy, says Van Eldik, is an understanding that "money will go mobile" and that "the biggest favour we could do ourselves as an industry is to recognise that there is money to be made for all of us."

"The biggest favour we could do ourselves as an industry is to recognise that there is money to be made for all of us"

"It has to be based on partnerships," he added, explaining that his experience working on Telefónica's mobile health initiatives has taught him the value of each party being responsible for its own area of expertise. So, while Telefónica has a banking license in some countries, cooperation with other service providers will be the way ahead, Van Eldik says. "We could try and become doctors, but that would be the biggest mistake we could make," he explains.

Telefónica's strategy, therefore, is multi-layered, involving a number of different business and consumer propositions with the aim of providing solutions that work for all. Currently, they include:

Co-branded products. Telefónica has signed a deal with Visa Europe that will see the introduction of services similar to the UK's existing O2 Money product across all the European countries in which Telefónica currently operates. Here, the operator will partner with a Visa card-issuing bank in each country and, in exchange for its business, will receive a share of transaction revenues or, as Van Eldik neatly puts it, "we will take a slice of the dice." A similar deal is also set to be signed with either Visa or MasterCard for the Latin American market in the near future.
Existing card products. A number of pricing models are under consideration to enable banks and other card issuers to add their products to Telefónica subscribers' NFC phones, although the operator currently favours a straight rental fee.
B2B customers. For merchants and other service providers, Telefónica will offer a range of products and services "that work out-of-the-box" and will also offer tools for developers, including APIs and toolkits.

Before any large scale launches can take place, however, phones must pass the scrutiny of Telefónica's consumer focus groups. Since its phones are subsidised, Van Eldik explains, decisions over which handsets the operator should offer are only made after in-depth customer research has been conducted — and "they must see a clear advantage" before a device can be offered to subscribers.

That said, in volume, the operator is now expecting to pay a premium of just US$5 to have NFC functionality built into its phones. That means, Van Eldik says, that if a sufficiently strong case can be made for being able to generate revenues from NFC service provision, it is possible that this premium would not be passed on to the customer.

Performance issues

The need for reliable handsets is also still a potential stumbling block. Performance issues with the Samsung S5230 NFC phone became apparent during the NFC trial conducted at the Mobile World Congress in February. Telefónica plans to use the same phone for the pre-commercial pilot it will be running in Sitges, Spain from June this year and, says Van Eldik, the operator has been working very closely with Samsung and with its NFC SIM supplier Giesecke & Devrient since February to ensure the phone meets its performance requirements in time for the launch.

A large scale trial is also due to begin in Peru soon, which will see commuters in the city of Lima able to use NFC phones to purchase bus tickets and, says Van Eldik, we are "running a few trials with stickers" and "we are looking at some other solutions too".

Where will the first major commercial launches take place? Spain, the UK and the Czech Republic are the furthest ahead of the countries in which Telefónica operates, says Van Eldik, with each having the potential for expansion in late 2010 or early 2011. "In these countries, we are seeing more and more evidence of market readiness and we at Telefónica are most advanced in our developments," he concludes.

Meanwhile, Pablo Montesano, Telefónica’s director for new businesses, told delegates attending the Mobile Money Summit in Rio de Janeiro this week that the operator estimates that it could ultimately generate US$1.5 billion from mobile financial services.

"The last 18 months have been important to our understanding," he explained. "We consider financial services one of the biggest opportunities within the group." Montesano also confirmed the operator's commitment to a partnership model, the GSMA's Mobile Business Briefing reports:

"Telefonica is looking at an open model whereby it could share the spoils with several partners, he said. And Telefonica does not believe in 'the silo approach' and is prepared to work with other mobile operators to see services become successful. Montesano has had to convince colleagues internally that co-operation rather than competition is the way to go.
Mobile money is also a rare opportunity to create value both for shareholders and the wider society, said Montesano: “Even a one percent inclusion of the unbanked creates a significant improvement in reducing inequality.”

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

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GlobalPlatform sets out branding guidelines for multi-application mobile wallets

Sarah Clark — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:11:29 +0000

The standards body's new Contactless Services technical document sets out how a card issuer's brand identity will be maintained within a consumer's mobile wallet.

SPECS: New document focuses on management of multiple contactless apps in a single secure element

SIM and smart card standards body GlobalPlatform has released a new technical document which focuses on the management of multiple contactless applications within a single secure element such as an NFC SIM, a microSD card, an embedded secure element or a contactless card/sticker.

The Contactless Services document, Amendment C to GlobalPlatform's Card Specification v2.2, addresses how consumers will manage their mobile contactless services and how they will select which application they would like to activate. The document outlines how the mobile phone interface can be tailored by the card issuer to meet its needs and those of service providers, including the storage of commercial logos to enable simple brand recognition on a mobile phone screen.

"This is an important enhancement for securely and effectively delivering NFC services to users," says Giesecke & Devrient's Karl Eglof Hartel, chair of the GlobalPlatform Card Committee. "It successfully overcomes some of the barriers that were restricting NFC technology realising its full potential."

"From a commercial perspective, for example, it is vital to have the technical capability to display logos to support brand recognition and awareness, while also guaranteeing the highest level of security and offering service providers a clear separation of domains for application management," he added.

"As a result of the card committee’s efforts, Amendment C to GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2 delivers to the NFC marketplace a neutral platform that enables service providers to directly interact with an end-user," Hartel explains. "In addition to creating new business opportunities at all levels across the NFC ecosystem, GlobalPlatform believes that the technology will create a fundamental transition in consumer habits. For example, today's process of choosing a payment card from a wallet will be replaced by the selection of a contactless service via the screen of a mobile handset."

Readers can download the full Contactless Services technical document from GlobalPlatform's website.

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

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EnStream begins Zoompass mobile payments sticker trial

Sarah Clark — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:36:45 +0000

EnStream, the joint venture between Canada's three leading mobile operators which operates the Zoompass mobile wallet service, has begun its first mobile contactless sticker trial.

Launched by Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus in June 2009, customers can currently load funds into their Zoompass account via their bank account or credit card and then use their phone to send and receive money, including between friends and family, check their balance and review their transaction history.

Zoompass customers can also apply for a Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard, issued by Peoples Trust. This lets them make purchases at any MasterCard-accepting merchant and have the cost of the transaction automatically debited from their Zoompass account.

The new Zoompass Tags are contactless sticker versions of the existing prepaid cards, enabling consumers to make payments with their Zoompass account at the point-of-sale by simply touching their phone to the contactless reader.

“All Zoompass users will soon be able to pay for their morning coffee, gas at the pump, and lunch at a fast-food restaurant with a quick tap of their mobile phone,” says Robin Dua, President of EnStream. “Every transaction is logged in the Zoompass application and can be instantly seen on the mobile phone. This is very handy to track purchases and budgets in real-time.”

For the trial, EnStream is using the Convego Air Mobile stickers launched in November 2009 by Giesecke & Devrient.

"Our Convego Air Mobile sticker is the only sticker of its kind with a flexible body and a unique shuttle distribution method," says Kim Madore, VP Emerging Technology and Market Development for Giesecke & Devrient. "It is the only sticker being trialed by the leading Canadian wireless carriers for use on their mobile phones.”

The trial is expected to last for three months and, longer term, is expected to lead to a widescale deployment of NFC-enabled Zoompass services. Last month, EnStream told NFC World that it is already seeing "strong usage of the Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard at retail stores where Zoompass users are able to purchase services using money in their Zoompass account." The company is, however, reluctant to confirm the likely timing of a commercial launch.

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

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China Unicom to launch world’s first commercial single wire protocol based NFC service

Sarah Clark — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:17:03 +0000

The mobile operator has signed up five Chinese banks and five transport operators for the commercial launch of its NFC service, scheduled to take place during the second quarter of 2010.

PARTNERS: China Unicom is building an open NFC business model (Click to enlarge)

The gloves are officially off in the fight to win control of the market for NFC services in China. Just a week after it was confirmed that China Mobile has commercially launched its RF SIM-based service, China Unicom has announced it is moving from the trial stage to a commercial launch of its own, NFC standard, service.

The pilot in Shanghai is not a trial any more, says China Unicom, it is "a real service offering to customers."

China Unicom, the country's second largest mobile operator, launched a mobile transport ticketing service in Shanghai in September 2009 and signed a deal with Chinese bank card association China UnionPay (CUP) in December. The deal was described as "a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement" and is designed to lead to the introduction of a series of co-branded mobile payments services.

Now, says China Unicom, the plan is to:

Launch payment services with financial institutions in Q2 2010 (estimated) using the SWP standard
Establish a working group to support handset vendors' development of NFC phones in order to address the shortage of NFC phones (China Unicom has been using Single Wire Protocol compliant NFC handsets from Hedy during the trial phase of the project.)

We have had very good feedback from the market, says China Unicom and "the first slot of hundreds of NFC phones sold out within three hours in the first day." There has also been very strong support from banks, associations and the central bank for China Unicom's open business model, the operator adds.

China Unicom has signed up an impressive list of partners for the rollout, including:

Bank card association China UnionPay
Five banks — Bank of Communications, ICBC, China Merchants Bank, Bank of China, China Everbright Bank
Five transport operators
Three POS partners
Four NFC chipset suppliers, including NXP, Inside Contactless and STMicroelectronics plus Chinese supplier FM.
Six SIM suppliers — Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient and Oberthur, plus three local suppliers.

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

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Toro and G&D to develop microSD-based secure financial services

Sarah Clark — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:48:54 +0000

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) has teamed up with Hong Kong-based NFC specialist Toro to develop a range of mobile financial applications based on G&D's microSD format Mobile Security Card and Toro's Akami mobile platform.

"Both companies are contributing their respective expertise in hardware, firmware, middleware, mobile software, and system architecture to create a platform offering system integrators, financial service providers, and retailers fast time to market for a proven secure mobile solution," says the official announcement.

The companies say that the collaboration is designed to bring to market "a series of stand-alone solutions for secure applications that will not necessarily evolve toward near field communication (NFC), such as mobile banking, mobile remittance and mobile ATM."

The Mobile Security Card includes a range of security features — but does not incorporate an NFC antenna. Instead, it is designed to secure access to data held on, and accessed by, smartphones.

Inserted into the microSD card slot on mobile devices, the Mobile Security Card handles user authentication as well as encryption and signature operations as an independent cryptomodule. In a two-factor process, the user authenticates himself to the Mobile Security Card and only gains access to the mobile device if the information matches.

On BlackBerry smartphones the card integrates itself in the BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 and handles user-friendly encryption and signature of email traffic and the device memory. "With their combination of security and user-friendliness, BlackBerry smartphones featuring this operating system version will provide significant added value in professional corporate use," says G&D.

The Mobile Security Card is supplied by G&D SFS (Secure Flash Solutions), a joint venture between Giesecke & Devrient and Phison Electronics. The latest version, the Mobile Security Card SE 1.0, launched last week. The device has 2GB of memory and uses version 5.0 of the Sm@rtCafé Expert smart card operating system, certified by Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The card's hardware conforms to the Common Criteria (CC) EAL 5+ security standard, and the software meets the requirements of CC EAL 4+. It runs on MS Windows Mobile, BlackBerry Device Software, Symbian, Android and Linux and is also compatible with Windows and Linux PC platforms for use in netbooks and notebooks.

"G&D SFS offers secure microSD cards as one among a number of secure elements on the mobile phone," explains Laurent Renard, CEO of Toro. "This is a strong sign to the financial industry that their applications can securely run on mobile. Independently from the longer-term agreements that banks and mobile network operators (MNOs) may be putting in place in preparation of NFC, banks can already educate their customers to use their mobile as a secure terminal for their daily banking operations."

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

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G&D to enable PIN-protected transactions on NFC phones

Sarah Clark — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:45:52 +0000

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is demonstrating a prototype of a complete security platform for mobile handsets, designed to enable a range of services including PIN-protected mobile payments, at the Mobile World Congress.

Developed with support from Qualcomm, the proof-of-concept solution is being demonstrated running on Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets and shows how G&D's MobiCore secure application environment and Snapdragon's security architecture can be used to deliver a complete ARM TrustZone-based security platform to address the requirements of services ranging from mobile payment with secure PIN entry and content management to key management and general user authentication.

"The MobiCore environment provides a fully certifiable security solution that enables applications using dedicated security solutions today to be integrated into advanced mobile devices based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform," says G&D.

"MobiCore is of great interest to banks and payment service providers in increasingly leveraging the capabilities of smartphones within the security frameworks of existing payment systems," explains Dr Kai Grassie, head of G&D's new business division. "G&D sees Qualcomm as a key partner to bring this technology to market."

"As mobile devices continue to evolve and become more advanced, demand for services such as mobile payment at the point of sale will increase significantly — underscoring the need for exceptional security to protect consumers," added Jason Bremner, vice president of product management at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. "We are pleased to be working with G&D to demonstrate their open security solution on our Snapdragon platform, and look forward to bringing comprehensive security capabilities to market."

Earlier this month, G&D and ARM announced a strategic partnership to develop highly secure mobile platforms combining G&D's MobiCore operating system and ARM TrustZone technology to create a protected area in advanced systems-on-chip.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon security architecture incorporates ARM TrustZone technology, allowing MobiCore to execute essential security functions in a multitasking environment parallel to a general purpose operating system. Access to such security functions is provided via a common set of APIs, designed to enable developers to easily take advantage of the security features.

"The first integration of G&D Mobicore and ARM TrustZone technology in a high-performance Qualcomm Snapdragon system-on-chip is an important step forward for mobile security," explains Ian Drew, executive vice president of marketing at ARM. "This commitment demonstrates the importance of security for delivering high value services in future devices."

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

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NFC trial begins at Mobile World Congress

Sarah Clark — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:27:06 +0000

Four hundred Samsung Star NFC handsets are being distributed to selected Mobile World Congress attendees for use at the event, which opens in Barcelona today.

Participants can use their NFC phones to pay for food and drink up to a value of €75 at over 30 merchant locations around the Congress.

GSMA, Telefonica, Visa and Samsung, with Giesecke & Devrient, Ingenico, ITN International and La Caixa have teamed up to deliver the service at the event.

The NFC handsets contain Telefonica SIM cards from O2 pre-loaded with €60 airtime credit as well as a La Caixa Visa Mobile Payment Application.

Participants in the trial will be able to purchase food and drink, simply by holding their Samsung NFC mobile phone against the contactless terminal at the participating merchants to pay for purchases under €10. Purchases above €10 require a passcode which the participant keys into the handset before presenting it to the terminal. The transactions are authorised online, with funds deducted from a La Caixa Visa account.

"It is a fantastic achievement to bring a full payment trial to Mobile World Congress and a testament to the hard work of the partners that this cross-industry collaboration has worked so well," says Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer at the GSMA. "Mobile operators have been requesting SIM-based NFC handsets for some time now and it's great to see such progress in this area. Now that the handsets are coming, we can expect to see a number of commercial launches of mobile SIM-based NFC services this year."

"The partners have worked successfully to bring the NFC experience to Mobile World Congress with the intention of raising awareness of this technology in anticipation of the commercial launch of these SIM based handsets in the very near future," says the official announcement. "As more of the SIM based handsets become commercially available it will help trigger global adoption and rollout of mobile NFC. Mobile NFC services will change the way people transact with their phones, everything from payments, travelling and ticketing will be transformed to ensure ease and convenience in the lifestyles of consumers around the world."

The partners' roles in the project included:

GSMA acted as the project lead, leveraging its Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative which, supported by over 50 mobile operators, has been working to make SIM-based NFC payment services a reality.
Samsung Electronics provided the NFC-enabled Samsung Star handsets and offered technical support to ensure the stability of the trial.
Telefonica provided the user interface enabling display and management of the core payment application on the handset, the O2 Wallet.
Visa provided the Visa Mobile Payment Application, a made-for-mobile contactless payment application, to La Caixa and Telefonica for use within the O2 SIM cards with €60 preloaded airtime credit. Visa coordinated activities with La Caixa, Telefonica, Ingenico and G&D to ensure that the accounts, O2 Wallet, terminals and SIM cards were Visa-compliant and mobile contactless ready.
La Caixa have issued accounts and have credited them with €75; La Caixa is also serving as the acquiring bank for the participating merchants.
Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) manufactured the NFC-enabled SIM cards and personalised them with a La Caixa Visa Mobile Payment Application, allowing the Samsung NFC mobile phone to make EMV mobile payments by connecting to the SIM card through the standardised Single Wire Protocol (SWP).
Ingenico provided the participating merchants around the FIRA exhibition hall with unique colour screen contactless EFT930G wireless payment terminals, enabling participants to pay for food and drink by simply presenting their mobile phone at the terminal.
ITN International, a mobile data management company for the event marketing industry, was a founding member of the NFC experience at Mobile World Congress.

Last week, Telefonica announced it is to run an NFC trial in the Spanish resort of Sitges, 40km from Barcelona, from May this year. The trial will be run in conjunction with Visa and La Caixa. The 1,500 participants will be able to use their Samsung phones at 500 shops in Sitges and the project could expand later to Barcelona and beyond.

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

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