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Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Cash, credit or cellphone? Plan offers new way to pay - 0 views

www.canada.com/...story.html

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Leave your wallets at home, people. You'll soon be able to pay by cellphone.
  • Canada's three big wireless service providers are hatching a system that promises to change the way people shop.
  • Bell Canada, Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility said yesterday they have set up a mobile commerce company in Toronto to work on a network that would let consumers use their cellphones to pay for everything from vending machine munchies to transit trips.
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  • The jointly owned company, Wireless Payment Services, aims to standardize and commercialize an easy-to-use mobile phone payment system. The carriers declined to say how much they're spending on the initiative.
  • The announcement is the latest example of Canada's wireless providers joining forces to push potentially revolutionary technology.
  • It's also further evidence that cellphones are moving way beyond their traditional use and into music playing, gaming, Internet and other applications.
  • Consumers should expect to see some changes starting next summer.
  • Prepaid wireless users will be affected first. The aim is to allow them to use their phones to buy more account minutes instead of having to visit a merchant.
  • After that, the carriers want to gradually roll out the system at retail points of sale and service centres like ticketing outlets.
  • "What the user will be able to do, ultimately, is to tap or wave their mobile device in front of a point-of-sale terminal to pay," said Jeff Chorlton, president of Wireless Payment Services.
  • Payment will be withdrawn from the user's bank account or charged to a credit card.
  • "All of your payment methods could be contained on your cellphone," Chorlton said.
  • Many handset makers have begun trials to add a payment function to their cellphone product lines. Payment works through a short-range wireless technology called near-field communication. NFC lets users exchange information securely by bringing two electronic devices close together.
  • The technology could forever alter consumer lifestyles, predicts the NFC Forum, an industry group promoting the technology founded in 2004 by Nokia Corp., Royal Philips Electronics and Sony Corp.
  • The Forum offers this future scenario on its website: "With Near Field Communication enabled devices, you will make your travel reservations on your PC and download your tickets to your mobile phone or PDA, just by bringing it next to the computer. Then you will check in for your trip by touching your hand-held device to the departure gate kiosk - no paper, no printing."
  • The system will allow retailers and other companies to save money, Chorlton said. "For some merchants, it could represent the roll-out of infrastructure at very low cost because the infrastructure largely exists through hand-held devices."
  • Mobile users in such places as Hong Kong and Finland are already using NFC technology to hop on a bus or buy some new threads. Canadians should take to wireless payment because they already frequently use cashless commerce like debit cards, said Dennis Kira, an e-commerce specialist at Concordia University.
  • "In my mind, the public in general is ready for it."
  • Canada has about 16 million mobile phone subscribers.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Mobile payment apps work to make wallets obsolete - 0 views

www.sfgate.com/...article.cgi

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Late last month, I ordered the beverage at Sightglass Coffee in SoMa, grabbed it from the counter and walked out without cracking my wallet.
  • Nobody chased me down because, when I first approached the cafe, the Card Case app on my iPhone detected the store's perimeter and automatically switched on. It broadcast my picture to the barista, who could then tap my pre-entered credit card number to cover the bill. The phone never had to leave my pocket.
  • It felt a lot like buying in the one-click environments of iTunes or Amazon, which is to say it didn't feel like buying at all. Square, the San Francisco startup behind the app, has come close to replicating the frictionless online buying experience in the brick-and-mortar world.
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  • "What we wanted to focus on was removing the mechanics of the transaction and building the relationship between the merchant and customer," said Megan Quinn, director of products at Square, which occupies space at the Chronicle building at Fifth and Mission streets.
  • But, of course, Square isn't the only company working hard to crack the nut of mobile payments - and they all face considerable challenges.
  • Google, Visa, MasterCard, VeriFone, eBay's PayPal division and a joint venture among AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are attacking the problem in various ways. In most cases, those businesses are going a different direction than Square, employing near field communications (NFC) technology that allows people to tap their phone near a terminal to make a payment.
  • Done right, mobile payments can accelerate the monetary exchange, while streamlining the issuance, acceptance and storage of receipts, coupons and loyalty cards. Down the road - once consumer and retail use reaches critical mass - the hope is that people will be able to leave their wallets at home altogether.
  • But there's a chicken and egg paradox: Customers won't start using mobile payments in great numbers until they're accepted in great numbers, and retailers don't have a huge incentive to roll these systems out until customers are clamoring to pay this way.
  • There are only about 150,000 retailers nationwide that accept payments over MasterCard's NFC-based Paypass readers. Google's Wallet payment app works with this system, and industry rumors suggest the next iPhone might as well.
  • Square, which has so far focused on small merchants has about 20,000 that accept Card Case.
  • Another big challenge is human inertia. To get people to download apps, key in credit card numbers and transform a habit they're very comfortable with, mobile payments will have to represent more than a little improvement over what they do today.
  • "You have to offer them a compelling reason to do it," said David Mangini, an IBM executive focused on mobile payments. "At a very, very minimum ... it has to be just as convenient, just as broadly accepted and just as safe."
  • One of the big knocks on basic NFC payments is that tapping a phone near a reader doesn't represent a whopping improvement over swiping a card. In addition, merchants have little to gain by replacing one expensive payment infrastructure with another, some observers say.
  • "It doesn't upset the status quo," said Nick Holland, senior analyst at Yankee Group. "It doesn't really change the original business model and it all goes through the same rails."
  • Receipts, deals Google argues that its NFC-based Wallet app is a big step forward for a few reasons. A single tap replaces not just the payment, but also the exchange of receipts, coupons and loyalty points.
  • On top of that, Google believes it's tying together the on- and off-line retail worlds, by allowing consumers to move the deals they spot on the Web into the Wallet app, where they can redeem them in the real world. Google Wallet also advertises nearby deals when users open up the app.
  • "For the consumer, it's really about tap, pay and save," said Osama Bedier, vice president of payments at Google. "On the merchant side, it's about closing the loop on that advertising."
  • This is a critical goal for Google, too, as it experiences slowing growth in online advertising - 93 percent of commerce still occurs offline, according to Forrester Research
  • For its part, Square steers around the limitations of NFC - as well as the various roadblocks of wireless carriers and credit processing networks - by leveraging the powers of the Internet to process payments. The credit card information is stored online, in Square's secure cloud, not on the device itself.
  • Square, which started by providing small attachments that allow merchants to swipe credit cards using mobile devices, acts as the merchant of record for its customers. This allows the businesses to quickly start accepting credit cards without going through the usual drawn out and expensive process of applying for a merchant account. But it also clearly puts more risk onto Square's shoulders.
  • Square turned on the hands-free feature on its Card Case app, which takes advantage of the so-called geofencing capabilities in the latest version of Apple's mobile software, in an upgrade to the app in November. The feature is only available on Apple devices to date
  • Quinn said "automatic tabs" represents an obvious improvement over traditional payments and it's quickly driving user growth (though the company doesn't disclose user numbers).
  • In addition, retailers have seen revenue leap as much as 20 percent since integrating the app. It drives traffic by highlighting nearby establishments, and the ease of payment encourages customer loyalty, the company says. Tips also tend to go up.
  • Is it safe? But the question that has dogged Square - and indeed hangs over much of the mobile payment space - is security.
  • Early last year, VeriFone CEO Douglas Bergeron blasted Square - its attention-grabbing young competitor - for what he called serious security flaws. In an online video, he argued that any bad actor could use the Square dongle and an easy-to-create app to skim credit card numbers.
  • Square CEO Jack Dorsey, also the co-founder of Twitter, defended the company's security practices in a letter. He also highlighted the inherent insecurity of credit cards, noting that any sketchy waiter is equally free to steal your information.
  • Meanwhile, Quinn argued that Card Case is actually more secure than credit cards because it only works if you're in the location and your face matches the picture that pops up on the merchant's screen.
  • The radio technology behind NFC has taken some security lumps, too.
  • Late last month, a security researcher at a Washington, D.C., conference used a wireless reader she bought on eBay to highlight some weaknesses of radio frequency identification, Forbes reported. She pulled the critical data from an RFID-enabled credit card through a volunteer's clothing, encoded that data onto a blank card and put it to use onstage.
  • Holland said that any new form of payment inevitably creates new forms of fraud. The challenge will be to educate consumers and merchants about how to minimize the risks.
  • "Clearly, having a device always with you and connected is a very inviting target for criminals," he said. "Any safe is only as strong as the key."
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Trade Your Wallet for Wireless - 0 views

www.wired.com/...64778

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • People fed up with the proliferation of credit cards, IDs and key cards that fill their wallets to bulging may soon have an alternative. New technology could bundle such functions into just one item: your cell phone.
  • Near Field Communication technology, jointly developed by Sony and Royal Philips Electronics, lets wireless devices connect to other devices nearby and transfer data, from payment information to digital pictures. Samsung Electronics and Philips say they are developing cell phones with embedded NFC chips that could double as debit cards or electronic IDs. The companies plan to begin field trials toward the end of the year.
  • Such phones are already available in Japan and Korea, where users can charge their phones with virtual cash, then wave them near NFC-enabled machines to buy anything from a soda to lunch. But it remains to be seen how Americans will react to the devices, which are not yet available outside Asia, said wireless technology analyst Allen Nogee of In-Stat/MDR.
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  • "Americans seem to be more skeptical of new technology like this," Nogee said, largely because of security and privacy concerns.
  • However, Nogee said the systems seem to have adequate security measures -- like requiring personal identification numbers, so thieves could not make purchases -- and could provide consumers with added protections in some cases.
  • "In theory, merchants will have wireless devices they can bring to you," he said. "When you buy something in a restaurant, you have to give them your card. They go off with your card and could be writing down your number. With this, they'd bring a portable device to your table and (the transaction) would be encrypted."
  • But Nogee said some apprehension about privacy might be well-founded.
  • "A carrier, if they wanted to, could know exactly where you are any time of day, who you're calling, and now they can know what you're purchasing and where," Nogee said. "So if you tie all these things together, that's quite a lot of information available on you."
  • Payments are not the only potential use for the technology. Philips and Samsung have suggested NFC devices could also work as mobile transit passes for users who would swipe their phones to get access to public transportation, and as secure building-access keys and electronic business cards. The technology could also let users swap digital music, photos or other files between devices.
  • Don't go throwing away your wallet just yet, though. The companies have not set a date for when the phones will be for sale in the United States. And even if security and privacy worries are allayed, the technology will need to be widely usable for consumers to adopt it. That means NFC devices from different manufacturers must be interoperable and integrated to work with the credit card infrastructure.
  • To that end, Nokia, Philips and Sony formed the Near Field Communication Forum in March to promote implementation and standardization of NFC technology. Philips is also working with Visa to encourage support of the technology.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Jumio Turns Webcams Into Credit Card Readers - And Why Merchants Will Welcome 'Netswipers' | TechCrunch - 0 views

techcrunch.com/...chants-will-welcome-netswipers

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • If it were up to Jumio, we’re all going to be ‘netswiping’ to purchase books, clothes, travel, FarmVille crops and whatnot online in a couple of years. The startup has been extensively testing its digital payments service in private beta mode since last year, when Jajah founder Daniel Mattes started teasing whatever they were building.
  • The startup has since assembled an impressive advisory board, including former Google exec Zain Khan, former Amazon exec Mark Britto and Maarten Linthorst, CEO of CSI Communication Systems. And we recently learned that Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and other investors pumped $6.5 million into the startup.
  • Today, Jumio is finally unveiling Netswipe, a technology solution that enables e-commerce site owners and Internet retailers to process online and mobile payments by having customers ‘swipe’ their credit cards using virtually any webcam. Think of it as Square for the Web, without the need to purchase and install additional hardware. Watch the video below to see how it works, in a nutshell.
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  • Jumio is introducing three products for online merchants: Netswipe Start, Netswipe Scanning and Netswipe Processing. Additional products, including a mobile solution, will be released later this year.
  • The idea of processing digital payments by scanning credit card information isn’t entirely new, we should note. Last month, for example, saw the launch of Card.io, a startup that is developing mobile applications also capable of scanning credit cards using smartphone cameras, and some other applications like AisleBuyer include similar features.
  • Mattes posits that online retailers and e-commerce site owners can quickly and easily implement Netswipe on their websites, and that the solution doesn’t rival but instead complements existing payment solutions that have usually already been deployed (PayPal etc.).
  • Netswipe will, howevever, allow merchants to securely process payments both on the Web and mobile – and like Card.io, Jumio intends to enable third-party developers to integrate the technology into their own apps and services. It’s also worth noting that Jumio claims its technology is patented.
  • The main benefits for merchants to implement such a solution are: reducing the time between a customer’s decision to purchase something online and effectively making a transaction, minimize the friction (entering credit card information by typing can be tedious and distracting) and reducing fraud.
  • Jumio CEO Daniel Mattes says that, during the pilot phase, a survey with a focus group showed a decrease in churn rate from 52% to 21%. This may well have been more of an exception than the rule, but for most businesses even a 5 percent decrease would have a big impact on the bottom line.
  • Jumio says credit cards that are used to pay for goods and services via Netswipe are not ‘photographed’ – rather, the scans are made using videostreaming technology, which enables the company to recognize and verify the card details without storing any data on the client side.
  • If all this is true, the Netswipe technology solution is one hell of a unique selling proposition for everyone involved – little or no downside and a lot of upsides for sellers and an additional, convenient method of payment for buyers.
  • The proof of the pudding is of course in the eating, as they say, so I’d be very interested to learn from online merchants and e-commerce business owners what their thoughts on the new service are.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Intuit Enables Mobile Credit Card Payments on the iPhone | TechCrunch - 0 views

techcrunch.com/...it-card-payments-on-the-iphone

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Today Intuit has announced that GoPayment, a mobile applications tailored to process credit card payments, is available in the App Store for the iPhone or iPod touch.
  • The app essentially turns the iPhone or iPod touch into a credit card terminal that can process payments, track past charges, and generate electronic receipts for the customer. Rather than wait for checks to clear or invoices to be paid, transactions can be processed on the spot via mobile connection. Card information can be inputted manually, or synced via a bluetooth enabled card swipe device. Intuit also assures that information is never stored on the handset, and that data is protected during transmission with financial industry standard technology.
  • t will definitely be a while before people feel comfortable swiping credit cards through a mobile device, but as large, reputable companies like Intuit enter the space the stigma surrounding mobile payments may slowly wane.
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  • The service seems to be designed for enterprise use, with a centralized online service center where user accounts and transactions can be monitored and managed. An entire staff’s payments can also be synced with QuickBooks for organizational purposes. Intuit states in the press release that motivation for the product stemmed from the observation that more and more entrepreneurs are relying on iPhone’s to manage businesses.
  • Today Intuit has announced that GoPayment, a mobile applications tailored to process credit card payments, is available in the App Store for the iPhone or iPod touch.
  • The app essentially turns the iPhone or iPod touch into a credit card terminal that can process payments, track past charges, and generate electronic receipts for the customer. Rather than wait for checks to clear or invoices to be paid, transactions can be processed on the spot via mobile connection. Card information can be inputted manually, or synced via a bluetooth enabled card swipe device. Intuit also assures that information is never stored on the handset, and that data is protected during transmission with financial industry standard technology.
  • The service seems to be designed for enterprise use, with a centralized online service center where user accounts and transactions can be monitored and managed. An entire staff’s payments can also be synced with QuickBooks for organizational purposes. Intuit states in the press release that motivation for the product stemmed from the observation that more and more entrepreneurs are relying on iPhone’s to manage businesses.
  • It will definitely be a while before people feel comfortable swiping credit cards through a mobile device, but as large, reputable companies like Intuit enter the space the stigma surrounding mobile payments may slowly wane.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

CES 2012's Big Sleeper: Near Field Communications - Mobility - Mobile business - Informationweek - 0 views

www.informationweek.com/...232301430

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • NFC, the technology running behind Google Wallet and many mobile e-commerce applications, lurks in many of the smartphones on display at CES. But mobile commerce isn't the only reason that NFC deserves your attention.
  • the most potentially disruptive technology has so far gotten precious little coverage. I'm talking about Near Field Communications or NFC. Didn't get your pulse pumping? What if I told you that NFC is the technology behind Google Wallet and every other mobile e-commerce technology, and that it's likely to be built into a good many of the higher end smartphones shown at CES? If you believe industry watchers, there'll be about a half billion phones sold with the technology between now and 2015.
  • NFC can be used for a lot of things, and payment is just one of them. The close proximity technology can also be used to see specs and other details on retail items. As stores like Best Buy move to compete with Amazon on price, you can bet that this technology will be used to replace the pimply faced kid who actually knows a surprising amount about whatever it is he's selling. It could also be used to assure the lowest prices for price conscious consumers.
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  • There are non-retail uses too. This could finally be the technology that lets us exchange business card info without the card. You could pay tolls or get information from governmental agencies. Wouldn't it be nice if Mount Rushmore told you all about its sculptor Gutzon Borglum, or that it took 12 years to complete?
  • Of course the first concern for such communications is security, and there's plenty to worry about with NFC--not the least of which is that the standard doesn't presently encrypt transmissions. Nonetheless, all the major phone, credit card, and carrier vendors and a good number of governments are setting to trial the technology in 2012. NFC is one to watch.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Google Wallet now Available for Galaxy Nexus on AT&T and Verizon - BriefMobile - 0 views

briefmobile.com/alaxy-nexus-on-att-and-verizon

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Since it was announced some time ago in 2011, Google Wallet has been completely exclusive to the Sprint Nexus S 4G. Every carrier other than Sprint has opposed the Google Wallet program and blocked it from being installed on their devices as they were preparing their own proprietary NFC payments system called Iris. That didn’t stop people from hacking Google Wallet and installing it onto non-Sprint Nexi, but still, we’d like to see more support from the carriers on this. Thanks to some brand new Android Market discoveries, however, it now looks like Google Wallet is officially available for all Galaxy Nexus on Verizon and AT&T!
  • Head over to the web version of the Android Market and search for Google Wallet. If you’re on a Verizon or AT&T (unlocked GSM) Galaxy Nexus, it now says Google Wallet is compatible with your phone! As a day one AT&T Galaxy Nexus user I can confirm it hasn’t always been this way and this could possibly be the first step towards seeing Google Wallet become a more widespread program. If you try to install from the app version of the Android Market it still says incompatible, so it’s probably in the first phase of rollout. Google Wallet is still apparently blocked for Galaxy Nexus users on T-Mobile, but hopefully that changes soon
  • If you are a Galaxy Nexus user on Verizon and AT&T, let us know in the comments if you successfully installed Google Wallet from the web version of the Android Market. I can confirm that installation worked perfect on my AT&T Galaxy Nexus.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

PayPal: Mobile payments and location-based offers go hand-in-hand - Tech News and Analysis - 0 views

gigaom.com/...n-based-offers-go-hand-in-hand

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • As we have been reporting, PayPal is gearing up to launch an in-store payment system that will compete with Google Wallet, Isis, Square and others. But the company isn’t just building out a point-of-sale transaction network. It’s looking to engage consumers well before they set foot in a store.
  • Walt Doyle, the CEO of WHERE, which was acquired by PayPal last year, said that will be a key battleground in mobile payments, pulling in consumers off the street. WHERE, which operates a location-based ad network, will be used as a way for merchants and retailers to engage consumers with deals and offers and lure them into stores, where they can check out using PayPal’s upcoming payment system. Doyle told me in an interview that the system will make mobile payments interesting to both consumers and merchants.
  • “If you only enforce payments without content advertising or offers, it’s simply not compelling from the acceptance side or from the consumer side,” Doyle said.
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  • WHERE is able to target consumers based on a variety of factors including location but also search and purchase data. The goal is to be able to find nearby users and walk them into a store so they will buy a product based on an offer or deal. That will allow PayPal to close the redemption loop and show merchants how much business they are getting from PayPal, Doyle said.
  • We talked about the potential of offering local deals when PayPal bought WHERE. But it is interesting to see that PayPal considers WHERE a key tool in its larger mobile payments efforts. It’s not surprising, considering Google Wallet is being combined with Google Offers, but it shows that this is becoming table stakes in mobile payments. You can’t just have a great payment solution; you also need to have marketing and outreach tools to distinguish yourself from other offerings. And you need to provide merchants with more benefits than just an alternative to a card swipe. Having a way for merchants and retailers to grab people off the street is going to be key for successful payment systems. And putting coupons and deals in the hands of consumers can help convince them that it makes sense to use an alternative to credit cards or cash.
  • One of the problems I see, however, is that with WHERE there is no guarantee that consumers must pay via PayPal at the point of sale. A user could receive a mobile ad for a deal or coupon and then choose to pay with cash or a card, which would leave the redemption loop open. That, Doyle said, is something PayPal will be working on as it rolls out its payment system.
  • But he said this is part of the bigger challenge for all mobile payment providers. They have to provide more benefit than a card swipe to both consumers and merchants. It is going to take an ecosystem to accelerate adoption, said Doyle, and there is a lot more learning needed in the years to come.
  • “2012 in mobile payments is where location-based services were, like, three to four years ago. It’s, like, the year when things begin but it’s not where the critical adoption curve kicks in. You need consumer adoption on handsets and merchant adoption on the point of sale side. You will see it begin this year, and we will all learn a ton,” Doyle said.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Isis selects Gemalto to manage mobile payments for NFC wallet - Tech News and Analysis - 0 views

gigaom.com/...mobile-payments-for-nfc-wallet

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Isis, the near field communication mobile wallet venture from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, took another step forward with the announcement that it has selected SIM card maker and digital security specialist Gemalto as its trusted service manager (TSM) for the wallet. The deal means Gemalto will manage the secure element on Isis phones, overseeing the transfer of payment credentials from banks and payment services to the Isis wallet application on phones.
  • Gemalto will essentially hold the payment keys for Isis, controlling which service providers are able to tap Isis for contactless payments. It won’t participate in the actual transactions but will enable a host of applications, from payments to coupons and loyalty cards.
  • The deal is an important step for Isis, which is moving ahead toward a launch in the first half of 2012 in Salt Lake City and Austin before a larger nationwide roll out. The joint venture will compete with Google Wallet, which launched in September with partners Sprint, MasterCard and Citibank and First Data as its trusted service manager.
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  • Gemalto is becoming a major player in the emerging market for TSMs. It has signed a deal to become the TSM for Deutsche Telekom and also Singapore’s nation-wide NFC system. It has also secured TSM deals with Barclaycard and Orange. Sebastian Cano, SVP Telecommucation for Gemalto, said the company has 45 NFC projects underway but the Isis deal would be the largest.
  • “The secure element will not be an open asset to allow people to write content to it or it will lose the first portion of it birth name,” said Hughes. “Any suggestion that a secure element is an SDK that sits on top of an open OS is a fanciful argument.”
  • I asked Ryan Hughes, the CMO of Isis, about the situation and he declined to comment on the Verizon situation. But he said that the secure element must be managed by a TSM and the owner of the device, which will be the carriers in the case of Isis. Creating a completely open situation where any company or developer can access the secure element would not be safe or practical, he said.
  • The deal is interesting because it follows word last week that Google Wallet has not been enabled to run on the Galaxy Nexus, Google’s flagship Android device which is expected to go on sale soon with Verizon. Verizon said it has not blocked the NFC application but is working on commercial talks with Google, which many have interpreted as Verizon holding back the wallet until its own Isis payment tool is available.
  • That suggests to me that we shouldn’t expect to see Google Wallet instantly enabled on Isis phones. It can still happen eventually and Verizon makes it sound like it’s just a matter of working things out with Google. But each Isis carrier will be able to decide what service provider gets access to their secure element, and it looks like it will not be a free-for-all. That makes sense on some level for security reasons but my hope is that ultimately, Isis members won’t find reasons to keep Google Wallet or other competing applications off their phones for too long. The NFC wallet market is just emerging and it will be good to have competition and options for consumers.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

PayPal unveils NFC Android-to-Android payments - Tech News and Analysis - 0 views

gigaom.com/...fc-android-to-android-payments

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • PayPal today unveiled a new peer-to-peer payment functionality that allows Android users to pay each other by tapping two near field communication (NFC)-enabled devices together. The feature, which follows an earlier contactless PayPal payment tool using Bump Technologies, shows how PayPal is gearing up for NFC as part of its larger push on mobile payments.
  • The payments work through a PayPal widget that allows a user to request or send money. A user enters the transaction information and then taps their phone up against another phone also equipped with the same app. After the phones buzz together, the recipient can decide to send or receive money by entering a PIN number.
  • PayPal’s new mobile payment service will only work currently in the U.S. with the Samsung Nexus S from Sprint and T-Mobile but will expand to other Android phones that include NFC functionality in the future. The transactions utilize an encrypted token and don’t access the secure element inside the NFC chip, where payment credentials reside. It appears this is set up for just peer-t0-peer transfers, which is still a big part of PayPal’s mobile payments business.
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  • he company said it is now on pace to do $3 billion in mobile payments this year though much of that is person-to-person transfers using the PayPal app, which don’t yield much revenue for PayPal. Users do not have to pay a transaction fee when payments pull from bank accounts or an existing PayPal balance.
  • In many ways, this is similar to personal transfers PayPal has previously enabled through its mobile app using Bump Technologies. Users are able to send money back and forth by bumping their phones together, a solution that doesn’t rely on NFC. It’s unclear how much of that may have happened through bump payments, so I don’t know how significant person-to-person NFC payments will be. It’s nice to be able to make a payment to someone by just touching phones but, again, it’s not like many PayPal users don’t have that ability now.
  • Shimone Samuel, Product Experience Manager for PayPal Mobile, however, said the NFC solution has fewer steps than bump payments and can be activated even when only one person has launched their widget. Bump payments require both people to have their PayPal mobile app open. He said PayPal turned to NFC because it simplifies P2P payments.
  • “What I’m looking for is what is simplest and easiest for customers and NFC is the simplest way to request money,” he said.
  • The bigger opportunity is in enabling real-world payments as retail and local merchants, something PayPal is still set to unveil later this year. That will be a much bigger deal because it will signal how PayPal will counter moves by Google and its NFC payments initiative, as well as other challengers like Square and the carrier consortium, Isis project. Samuel declined to comment on how PayPal will use NFC specifically at point of sale but he said the company takes every opportunity to learn from its products.
  • PayPal needs to figure out how to tap that market for offline purchases, which is much bigger than than pure online transactions where it’s excelled. So it’s nice that PayPal has enabled some P2P NFC payments, and it’s showing that it’s getting up to speed on NFC. But we’re still waiting to see the real fireworks.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

PayPal launches new mobile payment system in Home Depot | Econsultancy - 0 views

econsultancy.com/...e-payment-system-in-home-depot

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • PayPal’s mobile payment system has gone live at 51 Home Depot stores in the US.
  • The eBay-owned company has also reported that its mobile payment volume reached $4bn in 2011.
  • PayPal’s new mobile payment system, which was trialled by eBay CEO John Donahoe, allows users to pay at the till by entering their mobile phone number and PIN.
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  • No bank card is needed and the customer is emailed a receipt for the goods.
  • A blog post from eBay said the system also works using a plastic card issued by PayPal that works like a credit card.
  • PayPal’s mobile payment system is an interesting experiment, but one that is likely to be overshadowed by NFC technology.
  • Mobile phone companies and banks are pushing hard to make contactless payments the norm. Last week, Visa certified smartphones from LG, Samsung and RIM as safe to use its NFC payment system.
  • NFC is far simpler and quicker than PayPal’s system as you simply need to touch your card on the reader without entering any codes.
  • That said, NFC payments have a limit of £15 to £20 so there is potential for a mobile payment system for more expensive items.
  • Whether PayPal can take advantage of that market is unclear. Issuing customers who already own a Visa card with an NFC-enabled credit card is a relatively simple operation, but persuading people to fundamentally alter the way people they use PayPal by taking it offline is a much harder sell.
  • Also, PayPal has 106m active accounts, but there are more than 1bn Visa cardholders worldwide.
  • PayPal also announced that mobile payment volume reached $4bn in 2011, more than five times the volume in 2010.
  • Its revenue increase 28% year-on-year, and net total payment volume grew 24% to $33.4bn in Q4 compared to the same period the year before.
  • eBay achieved revenue of $3.4bn in Q4 2011, a 35% increase on the same period in 2010.
  • For the full year revenue increased 27% to $11.7bn.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Apple Streamlines Real World Shopping With Mobile Self-Checkout [08Nov11] - 0 views

www.readwriteweb.com/...world_shopping_with_mobile.php

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 08 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • For those of us who have grown accustomed to purchasing things from our laptops, tablets and smartphones, the experience of walking into a physical store and standing in line can get tiresome. It's hard to top the immediacy and convenience of online and mobile shopping. Yet, there are still plenty of items that are best purchased in person.
  • Apple hopes to bridge the gap between these digital and physical worlds. The company just released an update to its Apple Store app for iOS. Using the application, customers can not only purchase Apple products like they can on the Apple website, but they can now opt to pick them up in person at one of the company's many retail locations.
  • The app can also be used as a sort of self check-out scanner for certain accessories in Apple stores. Need a new case for your iPhone or a power adaptor for your MacBook? Now you can scan the item with your phone's camera, pay for it in the app and be on your way.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • This model offers a glimpse of one version of what the future of commerce may look like. E-commerce is infinitely more convenient for certain things, but sometimes consumers still need to see and try a product in person, whether it's a MacBook Air or a pair of jeans.
  • For retailers, offering a mobile app that alleviates some of the pain of real world, bricks-and-mortar shopping can provide a competitive advantage on digital platforms without cannibalizing physical in-store sales. Mix in location-based offers and coupons and the incentive for consumers to swing by the store is even greater.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Pioneer unveils Zypr, a free Siri-like platform that can tell your web apps what to do | VentureBeat [07Nov11] - 0 views

venturebeat.com/zypr

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 08 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Zypr is everything you wanted from Siri without the Apple-flavored handcuffs.
  • This voice-control API gives developers a free platform for writing voice-activated commands for web applications, including navigation, social media, maps, calendars and more.
  • One of the most interesting and valuable aspects of the Zypr API is that it aggregates third-party APIs from services like Facebook and Amazon, categorizes their functions (for example, social, mapping or shopping) and presents those functions through a single, normalized API, creating a stable access point for devices and apps. If a third-party API changes, the developer using Zypr doesn’t need to make any changes to his or her code. Pioneer says that Zypr can replace around 80 percent of the functionality of the APIs it supports.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • But perhaps most interestingly today, Zypr gives developers natural-language voice control for all services, regardless of provider or category.
  • Zypr is an ad-supported service and offers developers revenue-sharing opportunities.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Three Ways NFC Technology Will Create a Brand New Form of Social Media Engagement | Social Media Today [09Sep11] - 0 views

socialmediatoday.com/...w-form-social-media-engagement

3BT_NFC nfc technology branding social media engagement

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 10 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • As the number of smartphone users continues to grow at an incredible rate, the challenge facing many retail brands is to continue to find ways of utilising smartphone technologies to effectively connect and engage with consumers. In recent months many retail brands have focused on smartphone features that integrate with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, to not only create something new and unique as part of the consumer journey, but to also take advantage of the fact that through successfully integrating social media with the overall brand experience, the likelihood of fans and customers “sharing” branded content and increasing brand visibilty in the social space is also increased; something that more and more companies are continually striving to achieve across multiple social media and online PR campaigns. Interestingly, something that an increasing number of people are now starting to talk about when looking at the ways smartphones are shaping consumer and brand day-to-day lives, is Near Field Communication technologies (NFC) and the possibilities that they present.
  • In short, Near Field Communication technology enables smartphone users to gain instant access to digital data from another NFC enabled handset or NFC tag simply by placing or waving their phone next to the NFC tag. Much like scanning a QR code or connecting via Bluetooth, the tag then sends content automatically between the handset and the tag - be it a Foursquare-style check-in at a record store or access to an exclusive in-store promotion.
  • Although at first this may not seem all that different to what we have seen recently with the introduction of QR codes, the possibilities we are seeing for NFC technology are far greater. So much so, that we're not only seeing an increasing number of smartphone brands integrating the technology into their latest handsets, we are also starting to see large named brands such as Google, Visa and MasterCard getting involved at what is a very early stage.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • In light of this, below are three reasons as to why we will soon start to see NFC technologies appearing more and more:
  • 1. Real-life Facebook “Likes”
  • 2. Quick payments
  • 3. Ease of use
  • Although we are still very much in the early development stages with the use of this kind of technology, as the number of smartphones with NFC enabled technology continues to grow as well as the number of credit card companies jumping on board, it is surely only a matter of time before we start to see more and more people using their smartphones to pay for their morning coffee. Similarly to QR codes and location-based services, much of the success of NFC technology will depend on the adoption of big-name brands to not only raise consumer awareness but to ensure that the benefits for customers to use NFC as part of their browsing experience are unique, rewarding, relevant and appealing. Additionally, those brands working alongside a creative tech PR agency that are able to effectively integrate NFC smartphone technologies into their overall social media and marketing campaigns will almost certainly be at the forefront of a whole new type of real-world social media engagement.  
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Stocks Cashing In on Mobile Payments (AXP, EBAY, GOOG) [27Aug11] - 0 views

www.fool.com/...ing-in-on-mobile-payments.aspx

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 10 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • The race to replace your wallet with mobile payment options is on.
  • Consumer demand for smartphones, combined with near-field communication, or NFC, technology that enables everyday purchases, is fueling the shift from credit card swipes to mobile payments. With smartphone sales expected to increase 50% this year, mobile payment services are in a mad dash to capture market share, and the growing competitive space has sparked strategic partnerships among big names.
  • Meet the contendersMobile payment sales in the U.S. are expected to increase at a 68% compounded annualized growth rate over the next five years. It's no wonder that big players like American Express (NYSE: AXP  ) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG  ) want in on the action.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • American Express recently took the spotlight when the company signed a deal with Verizon Wireless allowing mobile users to make purchases on Verizon devices using a streamlined process. As the largest U.S. wireless carrier, Verizon reaches a broad audience. The partnership comes at the right time as American Express opens its own digital payment software called Serve, which will come pre-installed on all Verizon smartphones and tablets.
  • In an apparent bid to boost sales of Android phones, Google launched Google Wallet, a mobile payment platform for Android users. How it works: Google's Android platform will support NFC technology (more on that in a minute) capable of turning your phone into your wallet, letting you store digital credit cards on your Google Wallet account. Just walk into a store, pick up a product, and tap your phone on the payment reader. Google's service will support the payment networks of Citigroup's (NYSE: C  ) Citi, MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) , and First Data.
  • eBay's (Nasdaq: EBAY  ) PayPal has dominated the online payment space for over a decade, but as the competition gets tough and the focus shifts to mobile devices, the company will need to make big moves to maintain its head start. One such move was initiating Titanium+Commerce, a mobile payment program that lets small businesses design their own smartphone apps for processing PayPal transactions.
  • Another emerging competitor in the mobile payments space is ISIS, a mobile commerce network founded as a coalition among AT&T (NYSE: T  ) , Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile. Similar to Google Wallet, ISIS will run on any NFC-enabled device offered by the three carriers. Payment network partners will include American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa (NYSE: V  ) .
  • Why this will workFor one thing, smartphones have conquered dozens of industries by gradually replacing everyday items like pocket calendars, road maps, and cameras with their ever-evolving apps. I have no doubt the move to mobile payments will quickly make credit cards a thing of the past. Who will finish the race with the most market share? The company that can get the most merchants to adopt its service. At this point, ISIS shows the most promise because merchants will benefit from a solution offering multiple wireless carriers.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Facebook Acquires Mobile Video And Image Editing App Developer Digital Staircase | TechCrunch [07Nov11] - 0 views

techcrunch.com/...pp-developer-digital-staircase

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 08 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • It looks like Facebook has just acquired mobile video and image app developer Digital Staircase, according to a blog post on the startup’s site. We’ve embedded the blog post below and emailed Facebook for confirmation.
  • Digital Staircase has developed a number of apps for video recording, image editing and more. MovieCam, which is available as an iPad and iOS app, is a camcorder app that provides recording features like 8x digital zoom, pause-and-resume recording functionality, and contrast enhancement. The app also allows you to add 18 movie effects and filters while shooting video.
  • From the post, it appears that the development team may be adding some of these functionalities to Facebook itself. Unfortunately, Digital Staircase will be removing its apps from the Apple App Store.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon give Isis mobile payment network a $100 million boost -- Engadget [29Aug11] - 0 views

www.engadget.com/...sis-mobile-payment-network-a-1

3BT_NFC mobile payments

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 10 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • How do you compete with Google's new Wallet mobile payment system? Well, a $100 million cash infusion certainly couldn't hurt. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have plans to invest just that amount in Isis, sources told Businessweek. That sum is likely to grow, since taking on Google is no small feat, especially considering Wallet is already off the ground, with nationwide retail partners and support for MasterCard PayPass. Though Isis first made its debut last year, Google Wallet, which was announced in May, has clearly taken the lead. Isis is little more than a top-level website at this point, though with three of the nation's largest carriers providing support, it could have a chance to catch up -- especially if the carriers elect not to partner with Google, leaving Sprint as the sole wireless provider. We're glad to see some potential healthy competition for Wallet, especially considering that it was looking like Google was poised to create a monopoly. We expect much more to come on the Isis front, but in the meantime, hold on to those wallets -- cell phone payments may be in your future, but for now, paper and plastic are where it's at.
Dan R.D.

Google Offers is now live in Brooklyn! - The Next Web [09Nov11] - 0 views

thenextweb.com/...lyn-starting-with-4-for-sharks

1UE_NS deals

shared by Dan R.D. on 09 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Google Offers went live in Brooklyn, New York today, much to the happiness of everyone from Kings County to Gowanus. Google Offers, a direct competitor to companies like Groupon and Living Social, first landed in Manhattan this past July with Belgian fries and mango chutney at Pommes Frites. Today, Google’s daily deal service is offering $4 general admission tickets to the New York Aquarium, which is 73% off the normal $14.95 price tag. The Aquarium, which is located just off the Coney Island boardwalk is open year round and features animals such as California sea lions, stingrays, tropical fish, moray eels, penguins, seals, otters, walruses, starfish, sea turtles and sharks!
  • Location Media Microsoft Mobile Sessions Shareables Social Media Twitter Video Editions Africa Asia Australia Canada Europe India Latin America Middle East UK United States Languages France Nederland Polska Portugal Romania Russia Google Offers is now live in Brooklyn: Starting with $4 for SHARKS! 9th November 2011 by Courtney Boyd Myers Google Offers went live in Brooklyn, New York today, much to the happiness of everyone from Kings County to Gowanus. Google Offers, a direct competitor to companies like Groupon and Living Social, first landed in Manhattan this past July with Belgian fries and mango chutney at Pommes Frites. Today, Google’s daily deal service is offering $4 general admission tickets to the New York Aquarium, which is 73% off the normal $14.95 price tag. The Aquarium, which is located just off the Coney Island boardwalk is open year round and features animals such as California sea lions, stingrays, tropical fish, moray eels, penguins, seals, otters, walruses, starfish, sea turtles and sharks!
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

Shazam, Delivery Agent Partner To Let You Buy Your Favorite TV Characters' Stuff | TechCrunch [08Nov11] - 0 views

techcrunch.com/...r-favorite-tv-characters-stuff

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 08 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Shazam, potentially one of the most magical apps ever, has partnered with Delivery Agent to let you discover consumer products in TV shows and ultimately purchase them.
  • First to jump on board with the service is NBCUniversal, more specifically the program Covert Affairs, with other programming to follow. Just like you Shazam music you love, the service will let you tag Covert Affairs episodes, which will then serve up different products that are relevant.
  • So let’s say that Covert Affairs main character Annie is getting dressed on the show, and you notice that her outfit is exactly what you’ve been looking for. Simply tag the episode and voila! Delivery Agent pulls any items available for purchase right into the Shazam app.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Along with apparel and accessories within the programming, this new service will also let users buy program-branded goodies, like a Covert Affairs mug or t-shirt. In all honesty, the shopping selection probably won’t be that great at first, and obviously not everyone is a Covert Affairs die-hard. But if this thing blows up the same way Shazam did, you’ll want to be able to tell your friends you were doing it before it was cool.
Marc-Alexandre Gagnon

HTML5 App Delivery Network Strobe joins Facebook - The Next Web [08Nov11] - 0 views

thenextweb.com/...any-strobe-team-joins-facebook

shared by Marc-Alexandre Gagnon on 08 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Strobe, an App Delivery Network that facilitates getting HTML5 apps up and running on various platforms and app stores, has joined Facebook, CEO Charles Jolley announced today.
  • Jolley is also the creator of the SproutCore JavaScript framework for web apps that is used to quickly build web apps in the browser. It’s used by companies like NPR, Second Story and Sports Illustrated, as well as being popular among Facebook app developers.
  • Before Jolley created SproutCore, he was responsible for Mobile Me app development at Apple.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Strobe is described as “an App Delivery Network that solves the problem by enabling you to combine what the Web and native apps do best, using cutting-edge tools and technologies. It’s the quickest and easiest way to get your HTML5 applications up and running, on the web and in app stores.”
  • As SproutCore is remaining an independent product, at least for now, it seems like Facebook is after the technology or skills offered by the Strobe team. This appears to be an effort by Facebook to bolster its web and mobile experience and syncing services between them.
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