News
Visa ‘Taps In’ to Mobile Payments
- 30th September
- Nirosha Methananda 275
Commuters in New York no longer have to fumble for change, with the introduction of a mobile payment system by Visa and DeviceFidelity – the evolution of m-commerce is here!
With the advent of mobile phones and increased demand for consumer convenience ‘on the go’ – it makes sense that the next step in the evolutionary e-commerce chain is to make the mobile phone a ‘central hub’ for transactions.
This is a concept that was explored in the Power Retail Special Report: M-Commerce – The Future is Here – where Bling Nation implemented a trial “Near Field Communication (NFC) leveraged tap-and-pay purchase through consumer mobile phones”.
Visa Inc. in partnership with DeviceFidelity, recently announced that they were backing a trial of mobile payments for New York City-area commuters.
The technology developed by DeviceFidelity, incorporates Visa payWave’s (a contactless payment system) smart chip circuitry into a microSD card. This is then inserted into the mobile device or in the case of the iPhone, it is in the form of an add-on-case. Mobile phones that are equipped with the card can then transmit payment information to contactless card readers at fare gates – allowing the consumer to swipe their phone and carry on with their journey.
With this type of technology in trial stages, it is only a matter of time until it becomes everyday reality – the question is, are retailers ready for this next step in e-payment evolution?
