HSBC Launches Mobile Phone Contactless Payments Pilot
HSBC Credit Card Services has announced it has launched a mobile phone payments pilot based on Near Field Communications technology in partnership with MasterCard and ViVOtech.
The six-month pilot tests the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled mobile phones to make contactless credit card purchases. More than 200 HSBC employees in New York, Chicago and several other large U.S. cities used a simple, "over-the-air" (OTA) personalization process to securely load their HSBC credit card data onto their mobile phones."Putting payment capability into mobile phones is our latest effort to employ innovative technology in our credit card business," said Walter Menezes, chief executive of HSBC Card Services. HSBC introduced contactless debit cards to its bank customers in late 2005 and contactless credit cards in 2006.
The new phones feature NFC technology, which enables users to make contactless purchases at any of the approximately 36,000 merchant locations around the world that accept PayPass, including 7-Eleven stores, McDonald's, Jack-in-the-Box, CVS, Duane Reade, Sheetz and Regal Entertainment Group. PayPass is also now accepted in numerous baseball and football stadiums as its quick transaction time allows sports fans to spend less time in line and more time enjoying the game.
PayPass offers consumers a convenient alternative to cash that allows for small-ticket purchases to be completed quickly, securely and easily. Consumers no longer need to fumble for cash and coins, swipe a card, or sign a receipt for any PayPass purchase under $25. Users simply tap their PayPass-enabled phone, card, or device on the PayPass reader at participating merchants and they are on their way.
"MasterCard is excited about the future of mobile phone payments, particularly as today's consumers rely increasingly on their mobile phones for activities other than calls," said Art Kranzley, executive vice president and group executive, Advanced Payments, MasterCard Worldwide.
NFC is a short-range proximity technology that uses radio frequency (RF) to enable secure, contactless communication between two devices. Contactless payment is only one of the many data-transfer applications that NFC enables, which makes it an attractive technology for carriers looking to increase handset utility for consumers.
"An easy to use solution is the key for the successful adoption of mobile phone payment by consumers. We were happy to see trial participants were personally able to download their HSBC credit cards securely into mobile phones and were ready to make payments," said Michael Mullagh, CEO, ViVOtech, which provided wallet, smart poster, and over-the-air (OTA) payment provisioning software for NFC enabled mobile phones.
Citibank has a similar trial in the field right now that is not exclusive to employees of the bank. HSBC must have seen the first few weeks of success of it and is now deploying its own trial to its employees. I would venture to believe that the phone used in the HSBC trial is the Nokia 6131. It is the only phone on the market in the USA with NFC technology. The Nokia 6131 is still a prototype phone.
The website link for the Citibank trial is:
http://www.mastercard.com/us/paypass/mobile/index.html
It is outfitted with MasterCard’s PayPass technology. It works great. The phone allows you to turn off the NFC feature, or require a pass code before transmitting data. It has all the basic Nokia features – video, camera, text, internet. With the NFC technology it also allows you to wave your phone over poster tags and download movie trailers at the movie theatre or view video advertisements or download ringtones or songs as well as directories.
It gets some looks at the check-out counter, but it is so easy to use. Plus, I always carry my phone with me so it is convenient and I never have to take out my wallet to pay at the select merchants who accept PayPass.
If you can’t get the Citibank trial phone, as invitation is currently closed, you can still call up your financial institution – namely Citibank or HSBC, but you can bug Bank of America too, and ask for a card (debit or credit) with PayPass or a payment tag with PayPass. You do have to have a credit card or checking account relationship with your bank.
This is the Nokia 6131 NFC website:
http://www.nokia.com/link?cid=EDITORIAL_81777
Posted by: A. S. | February 02, 2007 at 07:44 AM