Paying with your phone gets closer as operators commit to NFC

A number of the world’s leading mobile operators have stated their commitment to implementing and supporting Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the near future, signalling their intention to launch services in a number of markets by the end of the year.

Operators including America Movil, Axiata Group Berhad, Bharti, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KT Corporation, MTS, Orange, Qtel Group, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor and Vodafone have voiced their support for the wireless standards, facilitating services including mobile ticketing, mobile couponing, data exchange, wireless entry and wireless payments.

With NFC expected to account for €110 billion of payments by 2015, operators are ensuring their customers can take advantage of the technology, helping the GSMA to develop a standardised certification which will mean transactions are properly authenticated and interoperable.

The GSMA is the body that will oversee the certification and testing standards, ensuring NFC payments are supported worldwide, regardless of the operator network or device used.

“As we have seen, the adoption of different approaches to NFC will only serve to fragment the market,” says Franco Bernabe, Chairman, GSMA and CEO, Telecom Italia. “By uniting around a single standardised approach to mobile NFC and by collaborating across the entire ecosystem, our industry will continue to develop the compelling services that customers demand.”