G+_Leif Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 NFC Host Card Emulation For quite a while we've NFC but for payments and tickets it never really took of because of the problem of the secure layer where the provider/carrier had the position of a doorkeeper. Since KitKat this problem doesn't longer exist because of host card emulation where the secure layer isn't longer needed. During the last days and weeks there were a couple of news which showed that the companies really seem to embrace it so NFC Payments can finally take off. Mastercard announcing their support of Host Card Emulation http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/6587007-mastercard-to-use-host-card-emulation-hce-for-nfc-based-mobile-payments An Article by Verge saying that VISA is working on it as well and almost ready for developer http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/19/5425634/visa-mastercard-enable-hce-mobile-payments Bell wants to demo something with NFC HCE on the MWC next week http://www.bellid.com/resources/blog/host-card-emulation-payments-demo-mobile-world-congress Spanish Bus driver using it for tickets http://www.nfcworld.com/2014/01/29/327663/spanish-bus-drivers-check-tickets-using-nfc-host-card-emulation Especially the statement in the last article is pretty true I think "HCE is a game-changing technology for NFC," says technology provider Aditium's Ibai Iturricha. "With HCE we have the chance to develop the whole solution without having to rely on any other party… With the entry of HCE we are free." At least here in Europe every new creditcard by VISA or Mastercard supports NFC since a few months now. They're really pushing NFC now and some countries are doing also a pretty good job with upgrading the terminals for NFC technology. In Poland it was already something about 40% and Switzerland is pretty far as well. Here in Germany they're always a bit slower, but I can slowly see a progress. The US have a huge chance now because they finally get rid off the very old and unsafe magnetic stripe which means that all terminals have to be replaced anyway so almost any terminal should accept NFC payments. I'm also pretty excited about the tickets because our transit system uses NFC cards since a few years now but because of the stupid secure layer they couldn't bring it to mobile phone - every had to have a NFC plastic card. Their Staff used Galaxy Note phones to check if those cards are valid, but we as customer couldn't use our phone because it couldn't emulate a card. WIth this new HCE technology a simple App emulating the card is finally possible. This really seems to be the year of NFC. Android supports the HCE since Kitkat, so at least new users will get it. Blackberry seems to support it since v10 and there was also an announcement that Microsoft will support on their Windows Phone very soon. So almost every new phone except Apple products will support it which means in most parts of the world a penetration of 80-90%+, and in the US at least 50%+. Maybe it could be an interesting topic for the next AAA Show Jason Howell ? http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/6587007-mastercard-to-use-host-card-emulation-hce-for-nfc-based-mobile-payments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Robert Marshall Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Alas, that phrase "...So almost every new phone except Apple products will support it..." How long before Cook recognizes the inevitability and pushes Apple in this direction as well? It's one thing to do things different to make your product stand out. But, it's quite something different to not latch on to something that will give your consumers something as important as mobile payments is going to become. The big problem is going to be getting the legacy hardware changed over here in the US. With the First Data family being the biggest processor they could do a lion's share. However, it's still going to require a lot of equipment changeover, and not just a simple software upgrade because the NFC readers simply aren't there. If they offer a free swap out program, it shouldn't be a problem. But, if they try and charge the merchant for the swap out that's a whole different thing. Additionally, they will need to keep the legacy abilities of magnetic stripe readers for the foreseeable future until the last "traditional" credit cards have been retired, not to mention that some point of sale systems still would need to use a magnetic stripe reader for things like Driver's Licenses and vanity card programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Leif Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Robert Marshall The merchants have to swap out their devices anyway in the US because of the upgrade to the EMV chip they've announced a few days or weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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