Tap and Go with SpeedPass

In addition to my article about Credit Card Purchases give way to Tap and Go.

I would like to add an example of contactless payments which was introduced in 1997 called Speedpass.

Speedpass is a keychain RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) introduced in 1997 by Mobil Oil Corp. (which merged with Exxon to become ExxonMobil in 1999) for electronic payment. It was originally developed byVerifone. As of 2004, more than seven million people possess Speedpass tags, which can be used at approximately 10,000 Exxon, Mobil and Esso gas stations worldwide. Speedpass has also been previously available through a Speedpass Car Tag and Speedpass-enabled Timex watch.

Speedpass is another example of “contactless” payment system that provides members with a quick and easy way to pay for purchases at participating Exxon and Mobil stations nation-wide. Speedpass is similar to the electronic toll technology successfully used on subway, bus, and highway systems around the world.

Speedpass key tag has a built-in chip and radio frequency antenna that allows it to communicate with Speedpass readers at gasoline pumps, convenience store terminals, and car wash kiosks at Exxon and Mobil locations.

A quick wave of your Speedpass key tag in front of the reader initiates the automatic transmission of a unique identification and security code to the Speedpass payment system so your account can be located. Your payment is instantly processed using the credit/debit card that is linked to your Speedpass. If the transaction is approved, you will receive a payment confirmation and you can be quickly on your way.

You can securely access your Speedpass account and change the credit/debit card that is linked to your device. You can also specify whether or not you would like to receive a receipt for gasoline purchases made at the pump using your Speedpass. Even if you change your receipt settings to specify that you don’t want a printed receipt, you can always view your complete Speedpass transaction history and all electronic receipts online by logging into your account at any time.

Speedpass is safe and secure. Your card information, preferences, and personal details are not stored in your Speedpass device, so your information is protected from unauthorized use.

Speedpass is a cool payment method for people on the go! You can use your Speedpass to pay for gasoline, food, merchandise, and car washes at participating Exxon and Mobil locations nation-wide.

Speedpass Benefits:

Fast and Convenient 
Simply wave your Speedpass key tag across the area of the gasoline pump, convenience store terminal, or car wash kiosk that says “Place Speedpass Here”. 

Free
There are no fees to acquire or use Speedpass key tags.

Easy and Simple
When you use Speedpass, there is no need to sign a receipt.

Online Account Access 
If you are an existing Speedpass member, you can login to speedpass.com to access your account 24/7. You can review your purchase history, access electronic receipts, update your contact information, change the credit/debit card that is linked to your device, and more! If you are an existing member, but don’t yet have a username and password, setup your online profile today by clicking on the My Account button on this site.

Safe and Secure
Your credit/debit card number and personal information are not stored in
your Speedpass device.

Posted in Electronic Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Near Field Communication Tagged with: antenna, built-in-chip, communicate, confirmation, contactless, convenience store, credit card purchases, electronic, electronic toll, exxon, fees, keychain, kiosks, locations, logging into, merchandise, mobil oil corp, nation-wide, online, payments, radio frequency identification device, receipts, RFID, security code, speedpass, Tags, tap and go, terminals, timex, transaction, unauthorized, verifone, watch, wave

Credit Card Purchases will give way to Tap and Go

With banks and shops starting to let customers pay by tapping their smart phones on terminals in stores, the future of plastic credit cards is looking shaky.

MasterCard, which has teamed with Coles and CommBank on these ventures, yesterday said Australians were rapidly embracing contactless payments using PayPass and rival Visa’s payWave. At Coles, six out of 10 MasterCard and Visa payments were contactless.

MasterCard head of market development and innovation for Australasia said three out of 10 MasterCard terminal payments were contactless and there were now more than 175,000 terminals nationwide that could accept them. More than 10 million MasterCards in Australia could make contactless payments.

An EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) standard meant all terminals were capable of handling different brands of contactless payments.

The first stage of the contactless payments or “tap and go” revolution began with Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass in Australia and the first institution to make contactless payments available locally was the Commonwealth Bank in 2006.

The next stage is to use smartphones rather than just plastic cards for contactless payments. Customers still use their Visa and MasterCard accounts, but the transaction is effected using a Near Field Communication sticker placed on the back of the phone, or an embedded, secure NFC element inside modern Android smartphones.

In Europe, NFC-enabled watches, wristbands, key rings and fobs also were being used for contactless payments and there was no reason this couldn’t happen here.

Visa said it had made a “significant investment” in a mobile NFC ecosystem.

“Visa is working closely with partners like Samsung, Vodafone and Optus on a range of mobile payment solutions that use the secure element and prepaid SIM models.”

CommBank, which previously enabled contactless payments from an iPhone housed in a special case, last week said it would let customers pay directly from their Apple phone using an NFC sticker, and from newer Android phones with embedded secure NFC technology.

The new facility, to be rolled out in the current financial year, is part of a revamp of the bank’s smartphones apps.

Coles said contactless payments had increased in the past year by more than 70 per cent while CommBank’s volume of contactless payments had increased six fold in 12 months. Westpac said it was piloting an Android mobile contactless payment application and was also investigating smartwatch payments.

“We also believe that the next big trend after the rise of mobiles and NFC in Australia will be mobile checkouts, where shoppers purchase products and have them delivered within two or three clicks,” a spokeswoman said, and the moves were “as big a market shift as we’ve ever seen”.

Coles also announced a trial of its own contactless payments technology using NFC stickers. Funds would be drawn from Coles Rewards MasterCards. Some 5000 mobile phone tags would be issued in a trial.

ANZ said it was continuing its trial of a mobile wallet for Android phones begun last year, ahead of making the solution available to customers.

“Our NFC pilot with Samsung and Optus is tracking well and we’re also investigating other payment options such as QR codes,” an ANZ spokesman said.

“Given the fragmentation of the market, we will continue to monitor developments before finalising how we will bring a viable mobile wallet solution for our customers to market.”

St George Bank chief information officer said his bank planned to have a contactless phone payments solution in the market “sometime in 2014”.

The bank has previously been reported to be looking at payments via the Pebble and Samsung smart watches.

National Australia Bank, which unveiled its peer-to-peer payments app, NAB Flik, last month, said it was watching how the contactless payments market developed with “less focus on being first to market and more focus on being best in market.”

The Australian  reported last month that Apple and PayPal were exploring an alternative to NFC-enabled contactless payments called iBeacons. When you pass close to a store in a shopping centre, a beacon will detect your phone’s presence and automatically alert you to signature items for sale and specials, or offer other information to lure you inside, and process payments.

CommBank last week told The Australian it was looking at iBeacons technology.

Posted in Credit card Processing, Electronic Payments, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Near Field Communication, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: accounts, Android, banks, checkouts, contactless, embedded, EMV, EuroPay, fobs, Iphone, MasterCard, mobile, mobile wallet, Near Field Communication, nfc, optus, payments, paypass, paywave, phone, plastic credit cards, prepaid, process payments, qr codes, Samsung, secure, shops, sim, smart phones, Smartphones, smartwatch, sticker, store's, Tags, tap and go, tapping, terminal, terminals, transaction, visa's, vodafone

Mobile checkout integrated into transportation ticketing app by Barclay’s Pingit

Mobile checkout integrated into transportation ticketing app by Barclay’s Pingit

Barclay’s Pingit mobile payments service is teaming up with Corethree to bring the financial institution’s mobile checkout to public transportation customers in Britain.

Corethree offers a mobile wallet for transport ticketing in Britain. By including Barclays Pingit in its wallet, Corethree can offer users more flexibility in how they pay for tickets.

“Providing a variety of native payment solutions within the application enhances the customer experience by allowing them the same type of purchasing experience that they currently enjoy from their favorite websites and ecommerce sites.”

“In the U.S. this includes integrating with payment option like PayPal and eventually electronic wallet providers as well.”

Mobile checkout
Pingit was introduced in early 2012, enabling users to make person-to-person payments.

The app’s breadth of services have been expanded several times since to include mobile payments from NFC tags and mobile checkout for Web sites and print ads.

Corethree reports that it is the first business to integrate Barclays Pingit mobile checkout, enabling bus passengers to browse, select, purchase and use bus tickets from their mobile devices.

Over the next 12 months, Corethree and Barclays will roll out their mobile payment services to other transport operators, with the goal of reaching up to 1 million passenger journeys per day.

The service will be available via Android and iPhone devices on any mobile network.

Mobile payments entry
Public transportation organizations around the world are embracing mobile ticketing to make it easy for riders to purchase and use tickets from their smartphones. Enabling users to purchase transit tickets anywhere at any time that can be used. Last year, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rolled out a new mobile ticketing service, giving commuters a way to purchase and display rail tickets on their smartphones.

“Transit is an integral part of consumers’ daily lives, and as such providing consumers with a secure way to pay with their phone and not have to carry cash or exact change is a great starting point for people to get comfortable using mobile payments.”

“Mobile ticketing is a great way to introduce customers to making payments from their mobile device.”

Posted in Credit card Processing, Digital Wallet Privacy, e-commerce & m-commerce, Electronic Payments, Mobile Payments, Mobile Point of Sale, Travel Agency Agents Tagged with: checkout, devices, electronic wallet, integrating, Iphone, mobile, nfc, payment, payments service, smartphone, Tags, ticket, ticketing, tickets, transportation, travel