Visa Makes NFC Mobile Point-of-Sale Payments Commercially Available for the First time

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, April 9 - Visa Inc. (V:58.16, +0.09, +0.2%) today announced the launch of the world’s first commercial Visa mobile payments service for point-of-sale transactions using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. The service marks the first time consumers can purchase an NFC-enabled mobile device off the shelf and use that device to make Visa payWave-enabled transactions at the point-of-sale instead of using their payment card. ”We believe that Visa’s NFC mobile payment launch in Malaysia signals a tipping point for the payments industry globally as we move from mobile payment pilots to commercial availability,” said Elizabeth Buse, Global Head of Product at Visa Inc. “Malaysia has historically been an early adopter of new payment technologies. The launch of Visa’s first commercial NFC program in Malaysia is based on Visa’s experience gained from undertaking extensive pilot activities around the globe and is something Visa plans to replicate in other places around the world.” Maxis - the largest wireless carrier in Malaysia with more than 11 million subscribers, Nokia - the world’s leading handset manufacturer and Maybank - a leading financial institution in Malaysia have teamed with Visa to offer Visa payWave on mobile devices.

The service, launched today, allows Maybank Visa account holders to simply wave their NFC-enabled Nokia 6212 classic handset in front of a contactless reader to complete a secure Visa transaction in a matter of seconds.

Maybank Visa account holders can download their Visa payWave credit account details directly to their Nokia 6212 classic handset over the Maxis wireless network. Once the account has been personalized on the phone, account holders can then begin to make purchases at any one of the 1,800 merchant outlets that currently accept Visa payWave in Malaysia.

The contactless chip embedded in the device will also power a number of additional functions, including a contactless transit application that enables Malaysian commuters to pay for charges while using metropolitan transit systems, bus terminals, highway toll gates and car park facilities at more than 3,000 contactless payment touch points throughout Malaysia. Maxis has branded these mobile payment services
under the name Maxis FastTap.

Dr Nikolai Dobberstein, Maxis’ Senior Vice President of Strategy and New Businesses said, “Maxis has been a long-standing partner of Visa in Malaysia and is excited to be the first to market with a commercial Visa
payWave service on mobile devices. Our collaboration with Visa is part of our wider NFC strategy which includes multiple applications including mass transit, road tolling, parking, mobile marketing through smart posters and of course retail payment through Visa payWave. We see this announcement as important not only for consumers in Malaysia but for the broader financial services and telecom industries because it serves as a proof point that win-win business models are possible in mobile commerce.” Momentum for Visa Mobile Payments Continues to Grow Visa is driving the convergence of two of the world’s most ubiquitous consumer products, 1.7 billion Visa cards and 4 billion mobile phones, by bringing its expertise in payments to the mobile industry. Over the last two years, Visa has worked closely with mobile network operators, handset manufacturers and financial institutions, merchants and technology provider to develop and commercialize mobile payments and related services.

Recent Visa mobile payment activities include:

Visa announced last week that it is extending mobile payments to Singapore in partnership with Citibank Singapore Limited and MobileOne (M1). The Citi M1 Visa payWave payment trial on mobile devices marks the first program in Singapore where a mobile device will be used for payments at the point-of-sale. More than 750 merchant locations across Singapore are participating in the three-month pilot, which begins in May 2009. Up to 300 selected Citi M1 Visa Platinum account holders will be invited to join. Participating account holders will be provided a Nokia 6212 classic, the same NFC-enabled handset used in the commercial launch in Malaysia. Participating Citi M1 Visa Platinum account holders will be able to purchase an item at a Visa payWave merchant in Singapore simply by waving the mobile phone in front of a contactless reader at the point of sale.

In Canada, Visa, RBC, and Rogers Wireless have come together for the next phase of a mobile payment pilot, which will ultimately allow Canadians the flexibility to make purchases securely at the point of sale with a wave of their mobile phone. Designed to be a fast and convenient way for customers to pay for small purchases, pilot participants will be issued specially-equipped mobile phones that can simply be waved at Visa payWave-enabled checkout readers at select retail stores and quick-service restaurants in Toronto’s downtown core.

Developing markets to drive m-payments growth

Rapid adoption in the developing world will fuel a boom in mobile payments over the next three years, with global transaction volumes reaching $250 billion in 2012, according to a report from Arthur D Little.

The firm predicts a 68% per annum increase in transaction volume to 2012 but in developed countries the rate of growth will be just 56% compared to 76% in emerging markets. By 2012, developing countries will account for 65% of total transaction volumes.

The report says that in developed countries m-payment services will not substitute existing systems, as mass adoption will be limited to niche segments. Meanwhile, despite the hype, contactless NFC payments will not take off in this market until at least 2011.

In contrast, m-payment services will become the first widespread, cashless transaction system in emerging markets, with the focus on low value, high volume transactions.

Remittances will be an important factor in driving transaction volume and also spur cross-border cooperation among providers.

After an initial period of competition between m-payments providers, there has been a move to improve cooperation and interoperability among providers over the last year.

In February the GSMA, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a programme that aims to expand the availability of financial services to millions of people in the developing world through mobile phones.

The Mobile Money for the Unbanked programme, supported by a US$12.5 million grant from the foundation, will work with operators, banks, microfinance institutions, government and development organisations to encourage the expansion of mobile financial services to the unbanked.

Bluetooth 3.0 Made Official

As previously reported, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) made the latest version of the open wireless protocol official today.

Bluetooth 3.0+HS makes use of 802.11 to ramp up its speed and increase its throughput to approximately 24Mbps, says Engadget. The new standard does not adopt UWB radio technology, but instead makes use of the current standard and the "+HS" when a faster standard is needed, according to The Register.

The Bluetooth SIG says consumers can expect to see the new stardand at work in devices such as cell phones, digital cameras, TVs and other consumer electronics, says Mobile Burn.

Microsoft CEO Ballmer Says Openness, Interoperability the Future of Mobile

"The last 25 years have really been unbelievable," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, opening his keynote speech to the attendees of the 2009 Mobile World Congress. "The rise of the PC, the mobile phone and the Internet has completely transformed how we communicate and run our businesses."

BARCELONA, Spain--In a keynote address that touched on issues of integration, openness and, naturally, the important roll Microsoft plays in the technological age, Steve Ballmer reiterated time and again his faith in innovation and the new ways technology is helping people connect with information and each other.

“The companies that recognize the fundamental importance of innovation have the chance to gain an advantage,” he said. “At the end of the day, the power of ideas and of innovation will continue to drive us forward.”

At the opening of the speech, Ballmer touched on the worldwide economic crisis, which he termed an “economic reset” that will affect everyone. He struck an optimistic tone, calling on the audience to be optimistic. “The chance to continue to make our digital lives even better is right here,” he said. “There’s no turning back from the connected world.”

More than anything, Ballmer said, consumers want experiences that extend seamlessly between their work lives and their home lives. He said the mobile industry is on the cusp of providing those scenarios. “A new generation of innovation is about to change the way technology interacts with people,” he said. “In the next few years we are going to take a leap into uncharted territory.”

Ballmer highlighted the concurrent trends of increasing ubiquity and power of digital devices, multi-core processing advancements, “natural” user interfaces, and a multiplicity of interactive screens. Ballmer predicted that soon, applications would be able to anticipate not only what a consumer asked for, but also what a consumer really wanted to ask for—a key design philosophy behind Nokia’s Ovi and Google’s Latitude applications. Perhaps more bombastically, he also predicted high-definition displays so lightweight and thin they could be rolled up and stuck in a purse or briefcase.

Transcending the barriers between devices, another major topic of discussion at this year’s congress, also featured prominently in Ballmer’s keynote. He described a world where one pervasive computing platform would be found on devices as small as a handset or as large as a data storage center. “We should then be able to connect seamlessly to people, information and applications, no matter where we are and what device we are using,” he said. “It will allow every person in the world to access information and participate in the knowledge economy.”

An engaging vision of the future, but what does this have to do with the open mobile ecosystem, the main topic of Ballmer’s speech and following panel discussion? “I agree that no single company can hope to create all the components that make it possible to provide the experience customers demand,” he said. “We need to work together to combine the best ideas and technologies.”

Ballmer made certain to mention Microsoft’s idea of “open” may not align perfectly with the vision of openness espoused by other organizations. Not terribly surprising, coming from the man who once referred to Linux as “a cancer.” However, he said he believed that degrees of openness would be essential in promoting choice and competition, which he said are the most vigorous drivers of innovation and technological progress. “Ultimately, the companies that succeed will be open,” he said. “Those forms of openness will provide the kind of choice that drives these innovations ahead.”

Ballmer briefly touched on the lessons he said Microsoft had learned through engaging in a partner ecosystem relying on cooperation and the sharing of ideas. He mentioned specifically the challenges of security, application compatibility and interoperability. “We have grown from the experiences and learned how to form partnerships to anticipate and avoid these issues,” he said. “We continue to support open networks and open access.”

In closing, Ballmer said all organizations need to build on the lessons of openness and interoperability to create the kinds of solutions that are best for consumers as technology moves forward. “That gives our company and our industry the greatest chance of success,” he said. “No matter what goes on in the economy in the next few years, technology and innovation is on a forward and exciting upward curve, and I know we’re all excited to be a part of that.”