Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will deploy the Near Field Communication (NFC) infrastructure for mobile payments from mid-2012.
According to the IDA this is the first interoperable nationwide deployment of NFC mobile payments in Asia, which will allow those equipped with NFC-enabled phones to pay for products and services at more than 20,000 retail points in the country.
A neutral Trusted Third Party (TTP) will provide a secure channel for service providers to send their customers' confidential payment account information to a tamper-proof secure chip in their NFC-enabled mobile phones. Credit and debit cards and stored value payment products by consortium members DBS, Citibank and EZ-Link, will be issued and stored on secure chips in consumers' phones.
Besides the awarded consortium, other payment and value-added service providers are also encouraged to leverage the interoperable NFC infrastructure to deploy their secure NFC mobile services. The open access model will facilitate the entry of new players for the growth of the NFC system in Singapore.
Travellers to Singapore with a Mastercard Paypass or Visa Paywave card installed in their NFC-enabled mobile phones will be able to make payment with their mobile phones at local merchants where Paypass or Paywave is accepted.
In addition, businesses can utilise this technology for customers to interact with digital signage advertisements, download coupons, tickets and product information via their NFC-enabled devices. Consumers without NFC-enabled mobile phones can purchase bridging devices from their mobile operators to enhance their handsets with NFC technology.
In October, BlackBerry’s two new smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Curve 9360 were certified as PayPass-enabled devices by MasterCard. This will allow telecommunication providers to utilise the in-built NFC technology on these phones (See story here).
For more information, visit www.ida.gov.sg
Tiffany Sandrasageran
