The battle for secure mobile payment

February 13, 2012 Leave a Comment

Mobile Payment Image

71% of executives think more needs to be done about m-payment security

When we talk about mobile payments we usually get the same reaction from people: excitement and trepidation. Human beings love convenience and gadgets that make everyday life easier. That said, we’re not naive. Especially when it comes to our money.

Like all new technologies, NFC mobile wallets come with their own security issues. The biggest hindrance to the mobile payment industry is security and consumer education on the matter. Last year, 71% of executives around the world cited security as the main challenge facing the mobile payment industry [KPMG Mobile Payments Outlook], and 61% of British consumers need more reassurance that contactless technology is secure [Ingenico].

Big brands and card issuers need to do more to calm the fears if mobile payments are ever going to become part of everyday life. But us techies can help too! Since we developed Touch Safe back in 2010, we’ve been commited to improving contactless payment security and last week announced our collaboration with ARM who have a wealth of experience in creating highly scalable, secure systems. The collaboration will focus on designing secure environments for NFC mobile contactless payments and mobile internet payments. We’ll be announcing details of what we’re working on within the next few weeks so watch this space!

Filed under Uncategorized

Tag Center now available for free on BlackBerry

January 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proxama's Tag Center application now available on BlackBerry

Heard about Tag Center and want to download it to your BlackBerry device? Click here.

Interested but want to know a bit more? Read on.

We believe that the guiding principle of NFC is to make life simple.  Any NFC phone can interact with tags on posters and signage, receiving web links to external content.

So what makes Tag Center special?

Tag Center turns the typical URL pop-up into a branded landing page with information on what you are about to download. It gives you the option to store tags in your History for use at a later date. Just picked up an NFC voucher from your favourite brand but not in town today? Tag Center will store the content so you can redeem it in store later on. There’s also the option to add tags to a Favourites section. NFC posters might not be on every bus shelter quite yet, but within a year they’ll start to crop up more and more. It would be easy to lose that competition win you picked up among the vouchers for paperclips and tea bags; with Tag Center you can store the things that are special to you in a Favourites list, making it easy to find them whenever you need to. Loyalty cards, business cards and more can also be stored in the app.

And everyone likes a bargain. What better deal than a freebie? We want people to enjoy NFC so we’re continuing to give Tag Center away for free.

The app is now available on Ovi, BlackBerry App World and Android NFC phones. Once you’ve downloaded it and had a look around, let us know what you think! We continue to develop our apps and appreciate feedback (good or bad!).

Filed under Mobile Apps, NFC, NFC Marketing and Advertising, NFC Technology

Finding that NFC handset

January 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

Over the last few months, NFC phones have sprung up all over the place. It’s happened so fast that it’s often difficult to keep track of the latest handsets. Here’s our simple (and colourful!) guide to what’s out there:

Acer E320, BlackBerry Bold 9790, Blackberry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9930, BlackBerry Curve 9360, BlackBerry Curve 9380, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, Samsung Tocco, Samsung Wave, Nokia C7, Nokia C701, Nokia C700, Nokia N9

Filed under NFC, NFC Technology Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Tag Center voted Top 10 App

January 5, 2012 2 Comments

Tag Center Application

Nokia N9 users have voted Proxama’s NFC application Tag Center as one of their favourite apps and we couldn’t be happier! 2011 was a brilliantly busy year for us and we released a number of mobile payment solutions and applications into the market. One of our biggest campaigns was for VOX cinemas where we helped bring free movie experiences to Dubai film fans and treated them to some popcorn vouchers as well. Tag Center was a key ingredient in bringing this to life: vouchers, show information and more can all be collected and stored on the app. And we’re so excited about giving everyone a chance to experience NFC and contactless, that we’re giving the app away for free. We want to know what you think works, what doesn’t and how we can make NFC even more accessible and user-friendly.

If you have a Nokia N9, you can find the app here. Another Nokia NFC handset? Click here to see if your phone is compatible. To download the Android version, vist the marketplace.

For the full list of top 10 apps, click here.

Filed under First of its kind, Mobile Apps, NFC, NFC Marketing and Advertising, NFC Technology

Making cinema more magical

November 30, 2011 3 Comments

VOX Popcorn voucher

Consumers receive exclusive cinema offers with NFC

Going to the cinema and seeing a really great film can be a truly magical experience. But free movie tickets and free popcorn make it even better.

Customers at VOX cinemas in Dubai are reaping the benefits of owning NFC handsets since Proxama launched its latest drive to get people’s phones tapping. Kiosks in the cinema chain are equipped with posters, each with a touchpoint that users tap their phone to in order to receive their voucher. The voucher is then redeemed at the till, by touching another poster. And there’s no cheating! With Proxama’s security barriers built in, users can’t share their ticket with others or redeem it more than once. Users can collect another voucher the following weekend, however so the fun can continue for a long time.

For the full story, click here.

Filed under NFC

Neil to speak at first WIMA USA

November 29, 2011 Leave a Comment

Chief Exec, Neil Garner, will be presenting at the first WIMA USA tomorrow. With WIMA Monaco already fully established as a must for NFC professionals and enthusiasts the world over, it’s American counterpart promises not to disappoint.

Neil’s talk is entitled ‘NFC for Mobile Applications and Enhanced User Experience’ and will explore the difference between NFC URL links and NFC applications. Other speakers at WIMA include the Head of NFC at Nokia and Group Head of Mobile Product Development at MasterCard.

If you’re attending the event and would like to listen to Neil’s talk, you can catch it at 11.30am tomorrow morning.

For more information on what’s going on at WIMA, click here.

Filed under First of its kind, NFC, NFC Marketing and Advertising

New Contactless Payment Test Kit available

November 17, 2011 1 Comment

Our latest product, a MasterCard standardised Mobile Reference Kit is now available to purchase.  The kit is the first of its kind to meet MasterCard standards and offers a significant advantage to anyone looking to develop terminals and cards that work with mobile wallets. Designed for terminal vendors, card issuers and merchants, the kit comes with a Samsung Galaxy S phone, Proxama Mobile Wallet software (pre-installed)and 5 Micro SD cards, each representing a different card type including MasterCard and Maestro.

We believe that it’s products like this that will  propel mobile contactless payments into the mainstream by assisting manufacturers and card issuers in ensuring their products meet united standards. The product is launched this week at MasterCard’s stand at the Cartes 2011 conference in Paris. Our Head of Mobile Wallets will be at the event to demonstrate how it works and answer any questions.

The full press release on this story is available here.

Filed under All

Beyond Payment: What NFC can do for travel

October 31, 2011 Leave a Comment

NFC for travel and ticketingGoing beyond payment, Proxama’s Chief Exec, Neil Garner will be presenting at tomorrow’s Travel 2020 event. Neil will review what’s been happening with NFC within the transport sector and explore the direction in which the technology is heading. Having only last month spoken to Passport magazine about how NFC can be used at airports, Neil will now present on how the technology can revolutionise travel and ticketing.

The presentation will highlight some of the key success stories of NFC pilots in the UK and around the world. With the UK government becoming increasingly certain that NFC has the potential to transform the daily commute, they are commisioning projects which utilise the technology. Neil will speak about what has happened, what the future holds and what needs to happen now to get us there. He’ll highlight the importance of travel cards being incorporated into mobile wallets and its simplicity over traditional ticketing. He’ll also explore the possibilities if the transport indusry not only uses NFC for access but also for advertising, allowing users to retrieve travel offers from NFC posters, store them in mobile wallets, and redeem them at terminal gates.

To attend Neil’s presentation and others from industry experts, visit the Travel 2020 website.

Filed under NFC

Not quite fifth generation

October 5, 2011 1 Comment 



We waited with bated breath as Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone… 4S?


At least we can say that keeping up with Apple news hasn’t been boring. They’ve been in the habit of surprising us of late and yesterday was no exception. The news that the iPhone 4S doesn’t have NFC was disappointing but not a complete shock. Perhaps taking a step back on this one won’t be such a bad idea. Waiting to see how other mobile phone companies utilise NFC should allow Apple an insight into the technology in exchange for minimal risk. They have their hardcore iPhone fanatics who will certainly be willing to wait.


There are plenty of other manufacturers happy to make a commitment to NFC while Apple watch quietly from the sidelines. Nokia have promised to include the technology in all of their future smartphones, starting with the C7 which was released earlier this year. Google’s recently announced NFC mobile wallet is evidence of their faith in the technology, and RIM proudly announced that future Blackberry devices will be NFC-enabled. Other big names climbing into bed with the technology include Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony Ericcson and Motorala. With all that choice, we don’t need Apple just yet. And let’s face it, they did have a very poor camera for a long time… at least they’ve managed to fix something.




                


                

					

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Apple unveils iPhone 5


                    

                        

                        	October 4, 2011
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Today sees the day that Apple are expected to reveal what the fifth generation of iPhone has in store for us. Of course, the big question in the contactless world is:


Will the iPhone 5 come equipped with NFC?


Unfortunately we still have a few hours to wait. The presentation of the handset isn’t due to begin until 6pm UK time, with the announcement of it’s NFC capabilities expected shortly afterwards. Apple have succesffuly maintained a hum of rumour about their NFC plans over the past year, with both internal staff and external media offering up conflicting information on their technology roadmap. It’s no surprise, therefore, that those of us involved with the NFC have been waiting with bated breath for this day to come.


Having recently beaten both Microsoft and IBM to become the highest ranking technology company (in terms of market value), Apple’s influence on both consumers and industry insiders alike is stronger than ever. With a forceful push on consumer and brand education, we could see NFC grow even more quickly than expert predictions suggest. However, Apple’s secretive attitude towards NFC could suggest one of two things:


1. They have been working on a phone with NFC capabilities incredibly advanced and user-friendly. They didn’t want the risk of competitors picking up on their ideas and manipulating them into their own applications.


2. They arrived at the NFC game a little late and over-cautious. Brands like Google and Nokia were already approaching touchdown with their first NFC handsets. Apple observed that in order to compete, they would need to get the NFC capabilities in their phone abolutely right. With the iPhone 5 already in development, they decided to put off introducing NFC into the handset, preferring to wait for the following iPhone 6.


It would be fantastic if the reason was the former: increased industry competition and therefore advances in the technology and consumer attitudes towards it would speed up immensely. That said, the lack of NFC in the iPhone 5 wouldn’t be all bad. Apple have had a tendency to eye up new technologies and observe competitor behaviour before jumping on board. If this is the case, we can expect them to offer up even better NFC capabilities with future phones; phones that have learnt from the innovation, as well as the mistakes, of other leading handset manufacturers.


Only time will tell what the new iPhone 5 holds, but even if it doesn’t come with NFC, there will be plenty of other handsets over 2011/12 that will make up for the lack.




                


                

					

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