Mobile NFC Gains Momentum as Operators Worldwide Pledge Support for SIM-Based Solution

China Mobile and China Unicom Join Leading Operators in Backing Mobile NFC; GSMA Publishes Mobile NFC Specifications to Drive Global Interoperability

HONG KONG, Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile Asia Congress -- The GSMA today announced that 45 of the world's leading mobile operators have committed to support and implement SIM-based Near Field Communications (NFC) solutions and services. These operators include China Mobile and China Unicom, which account for nearly 800 million connections throughout China. As an important catalyst in accelerating the adoption of NFC services, the GSMA has published a new set of industry specifications.  These handset and SIM specifications will enable the development and global deployment of secure, interoperable and ubiquitous SIM-based mobile NFC services.  

In addition to China Mobile and China Unicom, the operators who have committed to SIM-based NFC include: America Movil, AT&T, AVEA, Axiata, AXIS, Bharti Airtel, Bouygues Telecom, CSL, Deutsche Telekom, Elisa Corporation, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (du), Etisalat, Everything Everywhere, Globe Telecom, KPN, KT Corporation, Maxis, Mobily, MTS, Orange, Proximus, Qtel Group, Rogers Communications, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), SFR, SK Telecom, Smart, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia, Telecom New Zealand, Telecom Slovenije, Telefonica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Telus, TMN, Turkcell, Verizon, VimpelCom, VIVA Bahrain and Vodafone Group. Additionally, ISIS, the organisation formed by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless to build a nationwide mobile commerce network in the United States, also supports SIM-based NFC.  

"Clearly the momentum behind SIM-based NFC is growing rapidly, particularly with leading operators China Mobile and China Unicom supporting NFC services secured by the SIM card," said Franco Bernabe, Chairman of the GSMA, and CEO and Chairman of Telecom Italia Group. "NFC is an important innovation for consumers around the world, and while it is perhaps best known for enabling secure mobile payments, it will also enable a wide range of innovative and exciting new services and applications, such as mobile ticketing, entertainment services, secure access to hotels or cars, loyalty schemes and couponing, among others."

"China Mobile is able to offer SIM-based NFC on an extremely large scale and we have the experience, the technical infrastructure and trusted customer care network to support and effectively stimulate the market," said Sha Yuejia, Executive Director and Vice President of China Mobile.  

"China Unicom is known for its innovation and we strongly support SIM-based NFC technology that can ensure contactless services are available to our consumers, and will be interoperable and roam effectively wherever the consumer chooses to go," said Lu Yimin, President and Vice Chairman of China Unicom.

The market potential for SIM-based NFC is significant, according to forecasts from industry research firm Strategy Analytics.  Nearly 1.5 billion SIM-based handsets will have been sold worldwide between 2010 and 2016, supporting transactions of more than $50 billion globally over the same period. Further, ABI Research indicates that 85 per cent of all new point of sale terminals shipped in 2016 will be NFC-enabled.  

Ensuring Interoperability to Drive Global Adoption

One of the primary factors that will accelerate the proliferation of mobile NFC is the standardisation of the technology, which allows seamless interoperability between NFC devices and enables users to benefit from services around the world, regardless of mobile operator, network or device type. To that end, the GSMA has published handset and SIM requirements which define common handset application programming interfaces (APIs) to support SIM-based NFC services. Standardised requirements will drive economies of scale in SIM, handsets and infrastructure by creating a common framework for implementation and product interoperability. 

The handset and SIM requirement documents can be found at: http://www.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_lifestyle/mobile_money/news_and_resources.htm

"With the increasing deployment of commercial SIM-based NFC services in a range of markets worldwide, it is critical to embrace common standards that will promote the global interoperability of services and accelerate time-to-market," commentedAnne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA.  "Mobile operators, working together, are ideally positioned to roll out services based on the requirements published by the GSMA, providing proven security and interoperability, global reach and customer care for consumers and businesses and a secure platform for service providers."  

The GSMA has commissioned a report to take an in-depth view into the socio-economic benefits that the deployment of SIM-based NFC services will enable, and how collaboration between industries can help make this a reality. This report can be found at http://www.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_lifestyle/mobile_money/news_and_resources.htm.

GSMA NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012

The GSMA also announced that it will host the GSMA NFC & Mobile Money Summit in Milan in October 2012.  The NFC & Mobile Money Summit will bring together key players from every sector of the industry, providing an environment to forge relationships, expand ideas and foster the growth of NFC and mobile money.  Further details will be forthcoming.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Congress.  

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, atwww.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at http://www.gsmworld.com.

SOURCE GSMA

Discover Card Unveils 2012 Tournament of Roses® Parade Float Design

November 16, 2011 01:13 PM Eastern Time 

Company Celebrates Dreams Coming to Life with “The Dream Believers” Interactive Float

RIVERWOODS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Discover Card today unveiled its float design for the 2012 Tournament of Roses^®Parade to be held on Jan. 2, 2012, in Pasadena, Calif. This is Discover’s second year in the Tournament of Roses Parade, which complements its partnership with the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and four-year title sponsorship of the Orange Bowl.

“Discover’s float this year is about empowering and inspiring people of all ages to imagine what they want to accomplish in their lives and to fulfill their dreams”

As the 2011 Grand Marshal award-winner for excellence in creative concept and design, Discover hopes to wow audiences once again with a visually stunning float. In keeping with this year’s Rose Parade^® theme –“Just Imagine…”– Discover is working with Fiesta Parade Floats to design and construct a float entitled “The Dream Believers,” which celebrates the powerful belief that if you can dream it, you can achieve it. The float depicts children peacefully sleeping and dreaming about various professions they aspire to be when they grow up, including a teacher, artist, rock star, doctor, astronaut and firefighter. Standing near each bed is the adult version of the child seeing his/her dream fulfilled. The float will feature entirely organic materials such as coconut, sweet rice, cornhusk, seaweed and a lush garden of more than 20,000 orange roses.

“Discover’s float this year is about empowering and inspiring people of all ages to imagine what they want to accomplish in their lives and to fulfill their dreams,” said Jennifer Murillo, vice president of brand communications at Discover. “We all have dreams and aspirations – who hasn’t wanted to be a rock star at one point in their life? The concept of ‘Just Imagine’ feels very close to home for Discover since we strive to help people achieve a brighter financial future every day.”

As a leader in customer service, Discover also will showcase six members of its customer service team on its float, all of whom are U.S.-based and won their spot on the parade through an internal company contest.

“Discover made a spectacular debut with ‘A State Fair to Remember’ last year, so we’re excited to welcome them back to the 123^rd Rose Parade,” said Rick Jackson, president of the Tournament of Roses Association. "‘The Dream Believers’ is a concept that everyone can relate to, so we know it will fare well with viewers in the grandstand and on television. With rockets blasting, fireworks popping and a rock star singing, viewers are in for a real treat from Discover.”

To share its Rose Parade involvement with customers and parade fans, Discover will continuously update its “March to the Rose Parade” blog, featuring events and activities related to the construction of the company’s float. Visitors can learn about float making and judging criteria, see photos and video of Discover’s float as it comes to life, and post comments on the blog athttp://www.discoveratroseparade.wordpress.com.

Gemalto Wins GSN Homeland Security Award in the US for Best Biometric Identification Device

November 16, 2011 10:00 AM Eastern Time 

Coesys Mobile Enrollment Solution Recognized for Ease of Use and Robustness

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, announces it has won a Government Security News (GSN) Homeland Security award for its Coesys Mobile Enrollment solution. The award, “Best Biometric Identification Device,” recognizes the all-in-one solution which features all biometric data capture and enrollment technology contained in a robust and easy-to-transport field case.

“Gemalto is honored to be acknowledged by GSN for our advancements in personal identity verification, specifically with regard to biometrics and identity management solutions”

Coesys Enrollment & Issuance solutions combine the software, equipment and integration services for governments to securely capture biometric and biographical data, personalize and issue secure documents such as ePassports, health care and identity cards, as well as driver’s licenses. Coesys offers exclusive security and privacy enhancing features to allow safe and efficient enrollment for any identity management application.

“Gemalto is honored to be acknowledged by GSN for our advancements in personal identity verification, specifically with regard to biometrics and identity management solutions,” said Neville Pattinson, vice president of Government Affairs, Gemalto North America. “Coesys Mobile Enrollment Unit brings the highest levels of trust to identity projects in a portable, convenient package.”

For more information, please visit http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/24684?c=federal_agencies_legislative.

Visa Opens Its Doors to Developers with New Visa Developer Center

November 16, 2011 08:00 AM Eastern Time 

Global leader in payments accelerates pace of innovation; provides developers with unprecedented, secure access to Visa’s global payments platform, including its digital wallet

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In an effort to simplify and accelerate the development and adoption of innovative payment products globally, Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced the launch of its new Visa Developer Centerhttps://developer.visa.com. The primary purpose of the center: to provide approved application developers with easy access to tools needed for the rapid creation and deployment of payment applications.

“The Visa Developer Center ensures that application developers, especially those constructing eCommerce, mobile, and social applications, have access to Visa capabilities, while still maintaining Visa’s industry-leading security standards.”

The new Visa Developer Center offers eCommerce and mobile application developers a pathway to create a seamless online purchase experience for consumers. Whether enabling the purchase of small in-game digital goods, or the latest appliance from a big-box retailer, to enabling purchases with Visa’s new digital wallet, developers now have access to application programming interfaces (APIs), simplified documentation, and software development kits needed to make online shopping with Visa fast, simple, and secure.

“The convergence of web, mobile, and social networks is revolutionizing the way people buy and sell and is driving the creation of new and innovative ways to pay,” said Jim McCarthy, global head of product, Visa Inc. “The Visa Developer Center ensures that application developers, especially those constructing eCommerce, mobile, and social applications, have access to Visa capabilities, while still maintaining Visa’s industry-leading security standards.”

The new Visa Developer Center is a one-of-a-kind resource providing access to the payment expertise, open APIs, and development tools offered by Visa and its subsidiaries, CyberSource, Authorize.Net, and PlaySpan. It will enable eCommerce merchants, financial institutions, mobile network operators, and gaming developers to integrate Visa payment functionality into their product offerings, including:

• Next generation of payment solutions through V.me by Visa –

Visa is taking the first step in making its digital wallet and new acceptance mark available with the launch of developer tools which can be accessed through the Visa Developer Center or at https://www.v.me/. V.me by Visa will offer a secure way for consumers to pay online as well as in person with a PC, tablet, or mobile device using Visa and non-Visa accounts. Designed to support the evolving ways and places people are transacting, V.me will also provide features beyond payments such as transaction alerts and the ability to receive personalized offers triggered in real time. Accessing V.me will be as simple as click-to-buy on a computer, touch-to-buy for a mobile browser, and wave-to-buy for physical point-of-sale NFC transactions.

To accelerate adoption of and support for innovative applications using V.me, Visa is creating an open beta developer program designed initially for eCommerce payment applications. The site (https://developer.v.me/) will enable developers to provision API credentials and access the dedicated sandbox, dynamically generate code samples to insert into applications, create and integrate merchant eCommerce sites (with sandbox testing), and provide simplified web-based documentation.

• Person-to-person payments, domestic and international remittances –

Visa’s new developer center offers easy access to the building blocks that extend person-to-person payment services to include Visa cards. These building blocks include APIs for Visa account validation, currency conversion, transaction initiation, and anti-money laundering tools.

“Working with Visa has enabled consumers using our person-to-person payment products to send money to eligible Visa accounts anywhere -- creating significantly more options for both our financial institution customers and consumers,” said Neil Platt, senior vice president and general manager, payments at CashEdge, now a part of Fiserv. “This capability includes sending money internationally, expanding the reach and value of our person-to-person service.”

• Mobile payments and services –

Providing consumers with a way to make mobile payments and access their financial accounts has become a priority for banks and mobile network operators around the world. The new Visa Developer Center will provide mobile developers with the tools to create applications that transform a mobile phone into a payment or merchant acceptance device.

About Visa

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visitwww.corporate.visa.com.

Proxama Unveils New MasterCard NFC Mobile Payment Reference Kit

Published on Nov 16, 2011

Leading provider of mobile wallet technology, Proxama, will be unveiling its MasterCard NFC mobile contactless payment reference kit, at the Cartes conference in Paris later this week.

The kit will enable organisations to run a number of different payment option tests to view typical user payment journeys, understand how a payment application behaves and test compatibility. Users of the kit will be able to test variants of payments procedures, to include the different levels of payment authentication that can be employed such as ‘Always require PIN’ and ‘Pre-transaction verification’.

The reference kit consists of a Samsung Galaxy S phone pre-installed with a special version of Proxama's NFC mobile wallet software, five card profiles each representing one of MasterCard's (inc. Maestro) most popular worldwide card products and MasterCard’s terminal simulator software with a contactless card reader. It will be available for purchase by any MasterCard member or technology partner who wishes test the interaction between an NFC handset and a payment terminal.

James Anderson, senior vice president of mobile and emerging payments, MasterCard, said: “During 2011, MasterCard deployed Mobile PayPass commercially in multiple markets.  We see high levels of activity going forward and want to support our partners with practical assistance to accelerate their plans and continue to deliver great consumer and merchant experiences.  The reference kit that has been developed by Proxama is a valuable tool to support the testing and visualization of mobile payments solutions”.

Companies using the kit will be able to establish exactly what development requirements they need to employ to be ready for market and to demonstrate to internal stakeholders the value of NFC contactless payments.

Neil Garner, CEO, Proxama says: "Everyone knows that NFC payments are coming but, up until now, have had no way of visualizing or testing it. With our unique kit, vendors and card issuers will now be able to see for themselves how NFC contactless payments will impact on their customers and what they will need to do to make the most of this new transactional interaction. Having the MasterCard applets in the kit means that users will have the confidence that they are running tests with products that are being used worldwide from a global payments leader. Being able to visualize the mobile payment experience will help business strategists and cards teams to drive the business discussions internally with stakeholders and senior management. This cost-effective solution is one that we will be showcasing at Cartes, which will, I’m sure, spark a number of interesting discussions."

When using the kit with one of the cards installed, an image of the card itself will be displayed on-screen and users will be able to tap the handset to rotate the image to reveal the rear and tap’n’hold the image to get the card details up on screen.**