Thursday , March 28, 2024

Radio Frequency Technology

Operator Deals, NFC Could Help Obopay Stand out in Crowded Field

Seeking to distinguish itself in a growing crowd of mobile-payment processors, Obopay Inc. saw its application go live this week on Amp'd Mobile Inc., a wireless network aimed at the youth market. This development follows by one week an agreement the Redwood City, Calif.-based startup struck with ViVOtech Inc. that …

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No Single Strategy Will Unlock the Pint-Size Payments Market

Consumers spend up to $1.5 trillion a year using on small purchases using cash, depending on who's estimating, but converting so-called micropayments into electronics will be one of the payment card industry's tougher challenges. Experts contacted by this newsletter's sister publication Digital Transactions magazine for an upcoming story on micropayments …

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For Now, NFC Payment Hindered by Skeptical Carriers, Expert Says

Consumers who participated in a recently ended test in Atlanta of contactless payment on mobile phones may have warmed to the technology (Digital Transactions News, Sept. 8), but banks, transaction processors, independent sales organizations, and other players looking to cash in could now face a formidable hurdle: the wireless phone …

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Positive Results of Atlanta NFC Pilot Could Spur More U.S. Tests

A nine-month trial of contactless payments using near-field communication (NFC) technology in Atlanta ended this week with what its participants are calling positive results, including an apparently enthusiastic reception from the pilot's 150 users. Meanwhile, the results of the Atlanta pilot may be spurring banks, the bank card networks, handset …

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Study Warns of Contactless, Other Rising Risks for Top Acquirers

Contactless payments loom large among rising challenges now confronting even the most dominant processors in the U.S. merchant-acquiring business, according to a new study. The report estimates that acquirers processed 45.5 billion credit, prepaid, and signature-debit transactions in 2005, a huge electronic transactions market it says is controlled by five …

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Visa Data Show Increasing Penetration of Sub-$25 Market

Visa USA reported Thursday an increasing willingness among consumers to use cards for purchases valued at under $25, a highly coveted transaction segment in which the San Francisco-based bank card network waives its signature requirement in some 17 merchant categories. The network says its payment volume in this segment jumped …

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Discover’s Embrace of ViVOtech Hints at Bigger Contactless Plans

Discover Network's recent certification of ViVOtech card readers indicates Discover is moving ahead with a contactless card program, but the No. 4 general-purpose card network is staying mum about the details. Discover says it has certified several readers from Santa Clara, Calif.-based ViVOtech Inc., a specialist in contactless payment hardware, …

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Peppercoin Pursues Opportunity in Contactless, Vending

Peppercoin Inc., which started out as a processor of so-called micropayments for online content but soon began to embrace small-value point-of-sale transactions, now sees opportunity in both contactless technology and vending markets, its top executive says. “We've set bigger sights for ourselves,” says Mark Friedman, chief executive of the Waltham, …

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Instant Issuance Builds Momentum, Looks to RFID, Prepaid, Credit

The business of putting debit cards in bank customers' hands on the spot, at the moment they open an account, is growing rapidly and may soon include prepaid cards and credit cards, according to a supplier of software that controls the process. Dynamic Card Solutions, Englewood, Colo., says it now …

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First Biometric Fob for RFID Payment Could Be in Pilot by Year’s End

Privaris Inc. expects to begin pilots for a biometrically secured contactless-payment fob in both physical point-of-sale and Internet payment applications by year's end, an executive with the Charlottesville, Va.-based company says. While the device, which Privaris announced last week as the first contactless key fob secured by fingerprint ID, has …

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