Interac Association has announced it has "successfully carried out a series of contactless debit transactions using Scotiabank debit cards and TD Merchant Services’ point-of-sale terminals. The new contactless enhancement of Interac® Direct Payment, called Interac Flash, increases the functionality of Interac branded debit cards by leveraging dual interface chips that give cardholders the ability to carry out a point-of-sale debit transaction using the contact or contactless feature of the card." READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless, Sagem Orga and TazTag have announced the joint development of a new method of delivering NFC payment functionality. Based on TazTag's TazCard, the new device is currently in pre-alpha testing and, according to the companies, "demonstrates the feasibility of an option that facilitates NFC contactless payment transactions while providing full NFC functionality for other applications as well." READ MORE »

An international consortium of payment and wireless industry leaders have announced their participation in a field trial being conducted by Banka Koper to bring SIM-based NFC mobile payments to Slovenia. CASSIS International, INSIDE Contactless, Sagem Orga and Sagem Wireless, in cooperation with Mobitel, the leading mobile service provider in Slovenia, have provided Banka Koper with the payment infrastructure and applications for this trial, which will run through June 2010. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced it is making its Open NFC™ commercial-grade NFC protocol stack available in a free and open source edition under the Apache™ License, Version 2.0. According to the company, "INSIDE’s Open NFC 3.4 is available now for WinCE 6.0 (compatible with Windows™ Mobile 7) and Linux 2.6 platforms, and an Android™ implementation will premier with the planned release of Open NFC 3.5 at the end of March." READ MORE »

Smart card manufacturers Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) and Oberthur Technologies, and chip suppliers Infineon Technologies AG and INSIDE Contactless have announced the launch of an industry initiative to provide "a new security solution for next-generation smart card based public transport applications. The solution will build on an open standard now being implemented by the four partner companies, which will eventually be governed by an independent body. Companies active in the smart card arena - providers of chips, smart cards, application-specific operating software, reader devices and transportation systems - are invited to join the initiative for the advancement of more secure public transportation applications." READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless and TazTag have announced a partnership to develop and bring to market "a variety of highly secured, multi-application contactless solutions based on near field communication (NFC) technology." READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced that it is providing critical infrastructure components to Taggo, a membership card aggregator and storefront, for the new service Taggo will launch in Singapore and other parts of South East Asia early next year. Using ID stickers based on INSIDE's PicoPass(r) 2KS contactless memory chip, contactless readers based on INSIDE's M210-2G proximity coupler and INSIDE's integration and adoption services, Taggo has developed a way for mobile phone stickers to replace plastic loyalty and membership cards from a variety of retail merchants. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless and TWINLINX are working together on the integration of INSIDE's secure components in the TWINLINX MyMax NFC sticker and working to gain type approval of the sticker from the major bank card brands. TWINLINX is in discussions with major wireless carriers and transport operators in the U.S. and Europe and says it has already established agreements with a number of them. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has introduced the MicroPass 6000 dual-interface intelligent payment processor, designed as an EMV-compliant platform providing both contact and contactless operation. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced a partnership with ADELYA, a Software-as-a-Service company specializing in contactless and mobile loyalty and relationship programs, to enable consumers to conduct retail loyalty, ticketing, low-end ID and other transactions using the mobile phones they already have. INSIDE Contactless is providing ADELYA with PicoPass contactless stickers to transform mobile phones into contactless loyalty cards. More than 300,000 loyalty cards embedded with contactless stickers have already been deployed throughout France to customers of a children's clothing retailer. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced an initiative that it says "creates a new class of mobile payment solutions that banks, brands, transit agencies and others can deploy quickly, easily and in a highly targeted way starting in 2010. INSIDE has already engaged with several innovative technology companies that share its vision to develop a variety of mobile payment solutions based on INSIDE's proven, certified MicroPass(r) platform that will enable existing mobile phones to support mobile payments, as well as transit, ID and access control applications. A number of these solutions expected to reach the market as early as this fall." READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless and Cryptography Research have announced an agreement regarding the use of CRI’s patents covering countermeasures to Differential Power Analysis (DPA) and related attacks for INSIDE’s MicroPass and other secure semiconductor products. Under the agreement, INSIDE may use CRI's patents as part of the security strategy for its contactless semiconductor products which are used around the world in a variety of form factors – including contactless cards, key fobs, mobile payment bridge products, and NFC secure elements for mobile phones – for use in applications such as contactless payment, loyalty, identification, transit and access control. READ MORE »

Canada's Interac Association has announced a partnership with INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in open-standard contactless chip technologies to develop chips containing the specifications for INTERAC’s contactless payment service. According to the companies, this partnership will enable Interac Association and its members to offer their debit card users a “next generation” retail payments solution. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has introduced the MicroPass 4006 that combines ID and physical access control applications with Visa payWave, Visa’s contactless payment technology. The MicroPass 4006 is designed for next-generation, converged contactless applications on university and corporate campuses, where students, staff and employees can use a single, all-purpose card for branded payment, identification (including biometrics), ticketing and access control transactions. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless and First Data have announced signing a three-year agreement to develop contactless payment stickers, which First Data will market as GO-Tag products. According to the companies, INSIDE will supply MicroPass payment sticker prelams exclusively to First Data-qualified card manufacturers for production. READ MORE »

Gemalto and INSIDE Contactless have announced availability of a Near-Field Communications (NFC) solution fully complying with the latest ETSI standards. According to the companies,

"the solution also meets the new GSM Association "Pay-Buy-Mobile" mobile handset requirements based on the Single Wire Protocol (SWP). The new Inside MicroRead® NFC chip, combined with the Gemalto latest UpTeq 300 m-NFC SIM card embarking a Common Criteria EAL4+ security certified chip, gives handset makers and mobile operators the first fully compliant, interoperable, full-speed SWP solution - tested at 1.6 Mbps - to support proximity payments, transport and ticketing."

INSIDE Contactless has announced that it is working with Qualcomm to accelerate the growth of the Near Field Communication (NFC) handset market by jumpstarting the product development cycle, speeding time to market and significantly reducing development costs. As part of the collaboration, the two companies will develop two 3G handset reference designs-one each for UMTS and CDMA2000 networks-that combine Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem chipsets with INSIDE's MicroRead(r) multi-standard NFC chip. READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced that "samples of its first MicroPass contactless prelam for use in mobile handset stickers for secure payments are now available for card manufacturers. INSIDE’s new sticker technology combines the award-winning MicroPass 4003 contactless payment platform – designed from the ground up to support open loop contactless payment applications – with a tuned RF antenna in a compact, shielded prelam for payment sticker applications. The contactless sticker form-factor is rapidly gaining popularity as a way to turn mobile phones, company IDs or just about anything else into a convenient payment device." READ MORE »

INSIDE Contactless has announced that shipments of its MicroPass intelligent payment platform for contactless payment cards has surpassed 50 million units. According to the company, 'MicroPass is used to power more certified card products than any other contactless technology, providing issuers with broad choices for card manufacturing. Its low power and high performance, combined with the industry's fastest transaction time and outstanding read distance, enables MicroPass to deliver a superior cardholder experience for a broad range of innovative uses.' READ MORE »

CTST 2008, the largest payment, security and identification conference in the Americas, is being held this year May 12th through 15th at the Orange County Convention Center West, in Orlando, Fla. International industry leaders presenting during the Mobile and NFC Track include: 3G Americas, Aite Group, Authentec, Bay Area Rapid Transit District, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cassis International, Cellular South, Citibank, FireThorn, First Annapolis Consulting, First Data, Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Infineon Technologies, Inside Contactless, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, NXP Semiconductors, Sprint Nextel, StoLPaN, Venyon, ViVOtech and Vodafone. READ MORE »

The Smart Card Alliance’s first annual Payments Councils Summit held recently in Salt Lake City, Utah, reviewed the growth of contactless financial and transit payment markets in the US.

INSIDE Contactless has announced the MicroPass 4000 contactless microprocessor family, calling it "a next-generation platform designed to bring a host of new contactless applications to mainstream markets in the U.S. and elsewhere, with two initial product offerings intended for contactless payment applications."

First Hawaiian Bank has announced it has begun issuing MasterCard PayPass contactless debit cards provided by Giesecke & Devrient. "The Bank’s Priority Rewards MasterCard PayPass debit cards, powered by INSIDE Contactless’ MicroPass intelligent hardware technology, enhance the Bank’s traditional card offering and offer a secure and convenient payment method. G&D has delivered the contactless debit cards, as well as traditional magnetic stripe credit and debit cards, for First Hawaiian Bank card programs."

Kyocera Wireless and INSIDE Contactless have announced "a global collaboration to integrate INSIDE Contactless’ cutting-edge NFC solution for mobile payments in select prototype Kyocera mobile phones."

Card Technology reports on Inside Contactless' latest round of venture financing raising $25 million led by Granite Global Ventures. More details following from the Inside Contactless press release announcing the financing.

INSIDE Contactless has announced that its MicroPass platform has been selected as the initial chip platform for Wells Fargo's launch of its new Wells Fargo Visa Platinum and Wells Fargo Visa Signature contactless cards. On June 14th, Wells Fargo announced its plans to launch contactless credit cards. Peter Ho, Wells Fargo Card Services vice president and product manager, said at the time "we believe our customers will benefit from the speed and convenience offered by this exciting technology."

INSIDE Contactless has announced the closing of a €9 million ($10.6 million) financing round led by three new investors: Sofinnova, Vertex Venture Capital (Israel) and Visa International. Prior round investors GIMV, Vertex Singapore and Siparex have also participated.