by Adi Tedjasaputra

Self-serve Parking Payment is the latest buzz on the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia. Promoted by the Jakarta City Administration and the Jakarta City Parking Agency, a new electronic payment system is still currently under review. The new system is expected to enable motorists pay for parking fees with the use of Smart Cards.

"The new system will require Smart Cards. People will just swipe their card through a machine on the street to pay parking fees," said the agency's Deputy Head, Udar Pristono as quoted by The Jakarta Post last week.

Smart Card was first introduced as a technology that requires a contact area to transfer electrical power and communicate with Smart Card Reader. In the evolution of Smart Card, Contactless Smart Card was introduced. Using inductive coupling technology, Contactless Smart Card can transfer energy from a Smart Card Reader and activate the chip in a Smart Card without the need of physical contact.

déjà vu
/day&ulzh;aa voo/
· noun a feeling of having already experienced the present situation.
— ORIGIN French, ‘already seen’.
Compact Oxford English Dictionary

For the patrons of some streets in Jakarta, Smart Cards are not new. In 2003, the Jakarta City Administration appointed PT Adiwira Sembada as the sole contractor to run a parking pilot programme in several streets in Jakarta, while a Singapore-based company, Epecom Technology & Distribution Pte Ltd, formerly known as Gimexore Private Limited, provided full system integration for the pilot programme. In addition, INSIDE Contactless, which is headquartered in France, supplied Smart Card chip PicoTag and contactless springboard modules Hand'IT for handheld readers.

Swamped by operational problems, the pilot programme using Smart Cards known as "Kartu Kontan" was eventually declared as a total failure. The Jakarta City Administration officially terminated the operational collaboration between the Jakarta City Parking Agency and PT Adiwira Sembada in November 2003 after about six months of pilot programme launching. The equipments that cost about $2,000 per unit were rendered useless.

This year, with a new concept of "two parking operators, one parking system", the Jakarta City Administration will likely to appoint two private parking operators. The two operators, one of them is PT Adiwira Sembada, were recommended by the Jakarta City Council to manage parking in Jakarta streets, as reported by The Jakarta Post in January.

The new self-serve parking payment system operated by the two parking operators is expected to increase revenue of the Jakarta City Administration from parking fees. For the operation of the new parking management units, the Jakarta City Administration has initially allocated Rp 40 billion ($4.3 million) budget.

The writer is the Founder of RFID Asia - The Prominent RFID Community in Asia.


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Labels: card, indonesia, jakarta, parking, payment, rfid, smart, smartcard, technology

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by Eunice Sari and Adi Tedjasaputra

Since the introduction of T-Cash or Telkomsel Cash last month, RFID technology has received a high-profile acceptance in Indonesia. With the use of RFID technology in T-Cash, the demand of RFID Cards and Smart Labels in Indonesia is expected to increase sharply in the upcoming years. The RFID adoption path in Indonesia has become clearer in recent years, but the question of how the RFID adoption will influence the way Indonesians live and affect the other industries in Indonesia still remains unanswered.

T-Cash or Telkomsel Cash is a mobile commerce service provided by Telkomsel, one of the mobile telecommunication service operators in Indonesia. The mobile commerce service enables a user to conduct commercial transactions using either mobile phone or RFID card.

During the launch of T-Cash, which was attended by the Minister of State Owned Enterprises - Sofyan A. Djalil, the President Director of Telkomsel – Kiskenda Suriahardja said "The service is launched as an effort to support the mission of Bank Indonesia and provide a non-cash means of payment which is efficient, fast, effective and secure."

Transaction with T-Cash system relies on Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN) – a unique number identifying mobile subscriber, which still requires subscriber to verbally tell merchant at the point of sale (POS) to process any transaction. The use of Smart Labels and RFID cards in any transaction is expected to provide automatic identification of MSISDN by merchant terminals in the near future.

At this stage, the established mobile commerce ecosystem includes Telkomsel as Integrator and also Service Provider; Bank Indonesia as regulator; Indomaret and Modern Foto as Merchants; Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and Bank Mandiri as the Financial Service Providers; Department of National Education as academic content provider; and Finnet as switching provider.

Eunice Sari is an ICT Consultant and Researcher with various affiliations to academic and industry organizations. Her current research interest includes ICT4D, m-Learning, e-Learning, Web 2.0, healthcare, wireless and mobile technology. Adi Tedjasaputra is the Founder of RFID Asia - The Prominent RFID Community in Asia.


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Labels: 2.0, card, indonesia, m-commerce, m-payment, mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, t-cash, technology

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by Eunice Sari

After six weeks of internal Near Field Communication (NFC) service trial involving 30 participants, EZ-Link and StarHub today launched a new phase of trial involving pre-selected customers at the Partners Event held at The Arts House in Singapore.

 

In the next three days, both EZ-Link and Starhub will distribute 1000 NFC-enabled handsets to their pre-selected customers. The trial participants, in the next 6 months, will have an opportunity to use their new iWOW SZ1.0 handsets for contactless payment services as well as to download information from NFC tags and smart posters available at 32 bus stops along Orchard Road, Wisma Atria Shopping Mall, Orchard MRT station's concourse level, 500 ClearChannel bus shelters, 9 Golden Village Cineplexes and Sony Gallery Stores in Singapore.

Using NFC tags and smart posters conforming to the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) X 6319-4 or FeliCa standard protocol, the trial participants in Singapore can expect a similar user experience with i-mode FeliCa services that have been used in Japan since 2003.

Singapore Telecommunication (Singtel) and Network for Electronic Transfers Singapore (NETS) have also announced a plan to embark on similar public NFC service trial early next year in cooperation with Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

The writer is an ICT Consultant and Researcher with various affiliations to academic and industry organizations. Her current research interest includes ICT4D, m-Learning, e-Learning, Web 2.0, healthcare, wireless and mobile technology.


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Labels: 2.0, ez-link, japan, mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, singapore, starhub, technology

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by Adi Tedjasaputra

The variety of RFID tags available in the market often confuses the end-users in deploying RFID systems. Many end-users go from one RFID vendor to another and compare RFID tags based on specifications and prices. For the last couple of years alone, more than 90% of the RFID end-users contacting RFID Asia basically asked the same thing: Tell us about RFID products! When you are in the process of choosing the right RFID tags, the following excerpt from "RFID Asia Guidelines for Choosing RFID Tags" may be valuable for you.

While RFID Asia does not sell or manufacture RFID products, we do provide RFID professional services through Consulting, Research, Business Representation and Advertising. We help companies make the best investment decisions on RFID technology and products. We also plan to open a new RFID kiosk that will become one-stop RFID store to help companies across various industry verticals, government agencies, research organisations and universities in Asia Pacific to learn, select, try out and buy a range of RFID products and services from various RFID vendors. The kiosk will link up RFID vendors and consumers alike to conduct trading and training on RFID products and services.

If you are one of the end-users planning to embark on RFID system deployment, the following guidelines may ease the process of choosing RFID tag:

1. Define Your Goal and Requirements Clearly
Without a properly defined goal, you will be easily distracted by many tempting offers and marketing gimmicks. If you need RFID tags for pilot, define your pilot project goal clearly. Your pilot project goal may solve the attendance problem at your office, secure a certain area of your warehouse, or only to know how a wireless automatic identification technology works. After you clearly define your goal, the next thing to remember is to keep your requirements simple. For example, when your application only requires read-only (RO) RFID tags, do not be tempted to choose Read-and-Write (R/W) RFID tags only because they have more “features”, unless you already know that you will need them later.

2. Source Carefully
There are thousands of RFID vendors in the market. Some are good, some are bad. Some are reliable, some are not. It is good if you can get a vendor referral from a source you can trust. If you cannot get any referral and unfamiliar with a vendor, ask relevant questions to the vendor upfront. Make sure details such as pricing, delivery, payment, dead tags, return policy, tag life time, etc. are not left out. The more you know in advance, less surprises you will experience.

3. Standard is The King
As an evolving technology, the change of RFID standards is inevitable. As standards evolve, RFID tags and related hardware could become perishable. Upgrade option is always the best solution. Look for vendors who offer tag upgrade for reusable RFID tags. The good news is that almost everyone in the RFID community agrees that the harmonization of global RFID protocol and spectrum allocation is as important as regional harmonization. When you deploy an RFID system, make sure that your system conforms to the regional regulation and interoperable with other systems that interact with your RFID system. Whatever standard you use, make sure it is ISO-compliant.

4. Price is Not Everything
The lure of low RFID tag price often results in a disappointment at the end. Many will find out sooner or later that 5-cent RFID tags do not exist in the market. If your RFID application is based on the 5-cent price assumption, it is better to postpone your project indefinitely or find another business case that can justify your RFID application on different price level.

5. Try and Evaluate
Before your RFID tags arrive, you need to prepare a try-out system in place to evaluate your RFID tag performance. It is the best if you can set up a test environment in the actual site where the RFID tags will be used. Depending on the sophistication of your application, budget and time, you can simply set up a simple read and write test or set up a sophisticated test environment using a real-time spectrum analyzer.

The writer is the Founder of RFID Asia - The Prominent RFID Community in Asia.


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Labels: business, payment, project, rfid, tag, technology

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by Adi Tedjasaputra

The most popular technology used to pair mobile phones and headsets is undoubtedly Bluetooth. However, it is also a common knowledge that pairing mobile phones and headsets using Bluetooth can be cumbersome. When Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), a trade association behind Bluetooth, approved Bluetooth version 2.1 + EDR specification a couple of weeks ago, it is of no surprise that the specification includes an improvement for inter-device pairing process and a support for Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Among a myriad of wireless technologies, why does the new Bluetooth specification support NFC technology?

The Bluetooth SIG claims on its website that NFC will "take ease of use to the next level". While this assertion may sound like a marketing jargon, NFC does have a potential to exploit two well-known physical interaction styles, i.e. waving and touching/tapping, in various short-range contactless applications. The familiarity with waving and touching is expected to ease the use of NFC-enabled devices and thus improve the overall user experience of NFC-enabled devices.

Beside the improvement in user experience, NFC also has a potential to bridge the change of paradigm in logical bond or connection among physical objects. When the on-going work on NFC's Host Controller Interface (HCI) specification is completed by 2008, the HCI is expected to cover all NFC operational modes, including reader/writer, peer-to-peer and card emulation.

Imagine your NFC-enabled mobile phones that can act both as a credit card and a personal payment terminal. Imagine showing your digital photos and videos from your NFC-enabled camera on your friend's NFC-enabled television only by putting your camera next to the television. Imagine many other logical connection among physical objects that may be possible with NFC technology.

While the logical connection among physical objects is quite attractive, the technology may face some interoperability problems if there is no single technology standardization widely accepted by technology providers and end-users alike. The recent announcement of the NFC tag specification has shown that the NFC Forum has learnt from the RFID industry experience and built its NFC tag specification on the existing standards, such as: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) / International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 14443 and Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) X 6319-4/FeliCa.

The fact that NFC technology can ride on the popularity of mature technology such as Bluetooth shows the confidence in the future of NFC technology. However, similar with any other new and emerging technology, NFC will find its challenges along the way. Some of the challenges already identified include unreliable NFC infrastructure and insecure applications. We will see in the next 5 years whether NFC technology can overcome the challenges and find its niche application as Bluetooth did with its pairing feature.

The writer is the Founder of RFID Asia - The Prominent RFID Community in Asia.


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Labels: bluetooth, card, mobile, nfc, payment, reader, rfid, tag, technology

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by Eunice Sari

While contactless credit card is still a hot issue in the island-country of Singapore, several vendors in the region have started to buzz the concept of contactless mobile payment during a seminar last week.
The keyword is: NFC. The question is: Will it be a killer technology?

Near-Field Communication or NFC is a short-range 13.56 MHz wireless technology that can transfer data up to 424 kbits/s. Using standardized protocols developed by industry-sponsored NFC Forum, inter-device NFC communication is expected to establish two-way link and exchange data among different consumer products, such as mobile phones, televisions, personal computers and digital cameras. Touching and waving are the most common interaction styles that promise convenience as any other contactless technology. Nevertheless, the current usage of NFC technology is still limited to contactless card payment, contactless mobile payment and interactive smart poster.

Thian Yee Chua, the CEO of CASSIS, during a seminar in Singapore last week, emphasized the need to build an NFC ecosystem, an environment for consumer-service, for a wide adoption of NFC technology. Lim Boon Heong, the Marketing and Business Development Director in NFC business of INSIDE Contactless further detailed the importance of NFC handset availability, win-win business models and an open standard.

Contactless mobile payment is one of the applications highlighted during the seminar. Several pilots planned and initiated have involved major credit card companies, banks, merchants, mobile service providers, mobile network operators, such as: VISA, JCB, MasterCard, CCV Holland B.V, KPN, Nokia, PaySquare, Philips and ViVOtech, SK Telecom, Orange, France Telecom, China Fujian Mobile Communications Co. Ltd., Xiamen Branch and Xiamen E-Tong Card Company Ltd, 2-Eleven, Gemplus, CASSIS.

Yet, Bank of America that has conducted an NFC trial in collaboration with Venyon Oy and its 5000 employees at one of its corporate campus in Delaware reported in May 2007 that the NFC portion of the trial has flopped due to variety reasons, including undesirable mobile phone model and problems in downloading payment application to the handsets.

In addition, a security issue in the form of protocol vulnerabilities may become worse if NFC-enabled mobile phones can act as cards or terminals, can be programmed by their users and can communicate with each other (Anderson, Ross. RFID and the Middleman. Retrieved on 06-08-2007).

The writer is an ICT Consultant and Researcher with various affiliations to academic and industry organizations. Her current research interest includes ICT4D, m-Learning, e-Learning, Web 2.0, healthcare, wireless and mobile technology.


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Your Comments

The current NFC solution, being highly dependent on mobile handset (as far as mobile solution is concerned), is seen as the limitation. Such limitation can be overcame by a solution which will not depend on mobile handset.
- Eric Tan, Watchdata, Singapore, Sunday, August 12, 2007 -

Labels: 2.0, business, card, china, mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, security, singapore, technology, trial

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by Eunice Sari

A new contactless credit card offers a convenience of use and an alternative cashless payment to consumers in Singapore. While the current offering may appeal to a limited segment, there is still a room for improvement in the verification mechanism to leverage the appeal of the contactless credit card to other segments.

Last Thursday, United Overseas Bank (UOB) of Singapore launched the first contactless Visa Wave Credit Card in Singapore. Following the trial success in Malaysia and Taiwan during the first quarter of 2007, the launch of UOB One Card in Singapore is not surprising. Susan Williams, the Director of Stakeholder Communications Visa International Asia Pacific, shared with RFID Asia that as the end of March 2007, there are a total of 8.1 million Visa Wave cards issued by the banks in Malaysia, while in Taiwan the number is more staggering: 23.9 million cards, with more than 2,970 merchant locations that accept Visa Wave cards

Similar to the other contactless credit cards like Master Card PayPass and AmEx Express Pay, the UOB One Card only allows a small value of transaction without card holder's signature in about 300 island-wide retail outlets. UOB One Card holders can wave their cards on a reader terminal to pay for a purchase and expect the EMV-based payment system, a payment system built for chip-based transaction, to process a transaction and print a receipt within 4-6 seconds, without any card handover. Based on the study commissioned by Visa, this process is much faster than a signature-based card payment that takes an average of 25 seconds or a cash transaction that takes an average of 14 seconds.

The convenience of such contactless payment is not without a catch. Compared to non-contactless credit cards that require signature authorization or pin numbers from authorized card holders for each transaction, contactless credit card, such as UOB One Card, imposes no verification for any transaction up to $100. There is virtually no verification system in place to make sure that a person making contactless credit card payment is actually the authorized card owner. It will be easier for an unauthorized person who can get access to such contactless credit card to misuse the card. The owner of such contactless credit card can risk $100 multiplied by the number of transactions before the card reported as missing, stolen or misused in such scenario.

During the CommunicAsia 2007 in Singapore, we interviewed a few visitors about Visa Wave. The ages of the interview participants were all above 40. All of the interviewed participants said that they were excited to know about the coming of a new contactless payment technology, but they were still reluctant to use a contactless payment system. The feeling of uncertainty was the main reason of their hesitance, for example: they were still unsure whether they would be double-charged or triple-charged for waving a card several times.

The feeling of uncertainty for the consumers in Singapore is not without a grounded reason. In 1999, the consumers in Singapore saw a total of 400,000 Singapore dollars wrongly debited from their bank accounts through a crash in the country's cashless point-of-sale system. This experience has affected the adoption of any new cashless system in Singapore.

Targeting young professionals (23-34 years old), the launch of UOB One Card is a significant step for Singapore towards a cashless society, a vision backed by the Singapore Government since 1999. Compared to the current cashless payment system using magnetic strip cards, the UOB One cards will introduce a relatively new interaction style in cashless payment for the consumers in Singapore. Consumers and merchants alike using the contactless credit card system may expect a significant portion of learning and teething problems in the upcoming days and months ahead. In addition, UOB One Card may not also be as popular as its predecessors in Taiwan and Malaysia because the credit card will only be appealing to a small segment in the Singapore's aging society.

The writer is an ICT Consultant and Researcher with various affiliations to academic and industry organizations. Her current research interest includes ICT4D, m-Learning, e-Learning, Web 2.0, healthcare, wireless and mobile technology.


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Labels: 2.0, card, malaysia, mobile, payment, reader, rfid, singapore, technology, trial

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Like any information technology (IT), radio frequency identification (RFID) presents security and privacy risks that must be carefully mitigated through management, operational, and technical controls in order to realize the numerous benefits the technology has to offer.

When practitioners adhere to sound security engineering principles, RFID technology can help a wide range of organizations and individuals realize substantial productivity gains and efficiencies. These organizations and individuals include hospitals and patients, retailers and customers, and manufacturers and distributors throughout the supply chain.

RFID is a form of automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technology that uses electric or magnetic fields at radio frequencies to transmit information. An RFID system can be used to identify many types of objects, such as manufactured goods, animals, and people. Each object that needs to be identified has a small object known as an RFID tag affixed to it or embedded within it.

The tag has a unique identifier and may optionally hold additional information about the object. Devices known as RFID readers wirelessly communicate with the tags to identify the item connected to each tag and possibly read or update additional information stored on the tag. This communication can occur without optical line of sight and over greater distances than other AIDC technologies. RFID technologies support a wide range of applications—everything from asset management and tracking to access control and automated payment.

Every RFID system includes a radio frequency (RF) subsystem, which is composed of tags and readers. In many RFID systems, the RF subsystem is supported by an enterprise subsystem that is composed of middleware, analytic systems, and networking services. RFID systems that share information across organizational boundaries, such as supply chain applications, also have an inter-enterprise subsystem.

Each RFID system has different components and customizations so that it can support a particular business process for an organization; as a result, the security risks for RFID systems and the controls available to address them are highly varied. The enterprise and inter-enterprise subsystems involve common IT components such as servers, databases, and networks and therefore can benefit from typical IT security controls for those components.

Source: Karygiannis, T., Eydt, B., et al. (2007). Guidelines for Securing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems. Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST Special Publication 800-98.


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Labels: business, payment, privacy, rfid, scm, security, tag, technology, tracking

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Edited Press Release.

To address the current lack of NFC Phones, Tracient and Narian Technologies have developed a revolutionary new NFC enabler that could make 100’s of millions of current phones fully NFC capable today. This technology will aid in driving forward NFC to its eventual standard embedding in mobile phones.

Christchurch/New Zealand-Florida/USA, April 17, 2007 — NFC (Near Field
Communication) has been a buzz word for many years and has hit a climax at the recent CTIA conference. There are literally 1000's of applications for this technology, but NFC Capable Phones have not been widely available to make it a reality. Over the past year, Narian and Tracient have worked to solve the problems of form factor and integration that have plagued other companies. Capitalizing on Patented and Patent Pending NFC Technologies both companies announced today that Narian will be bringing a range of applications to market on hardware designed by Tracient. Both companies believe this will be the tool to enable the NFC Revolution to begin.

Einar Rosenberg, CTO Narian Technologies, "NFC has the potential value to consumers Equal to the Internet, and we can prove it". "The unit is designed to NFC Enable phones today, and a variety of other appliances as well" says Grant Pugh CEO of Tracient, "This also makes it very attractive in mobile workforce applications for small to medium enterprises."

The hardware will be produced in packaged and module forms, one of which measures a mere 25mm x 25mm (1" x 1"). The unit can be placed ergonomically to 100's of millions of current phones today and make them fully NFC Capable. With a device slightly larger than a Postage Stamp, consumers can now be offered the full capabilities of NFC such as Virtual Card, Machine to Machine Communication, RFID Read/Write, and much more.

Both companies see the day in which every phone and handheld computer will have embedded NFC standard, but to drive issues such as current lack of phones and even replacement rates when phones are available, Tracient and Narian introduce the Sliver. In volume orders the price point is dramatically affordable at around $36 per unit.

For additional information, Contact:
Einar Rosenberg – Narian Technologies – 954-570-8959 – einar@nariantechnologies.com
Grant Pugh – Tracient Technologies Ltd.– +64-3-9777-050 – grant.pugh@tracient.com

Tracient Technologies
Tracient Technologies provides identification and data capture tools that are easy to use and integrate into a wide variety of phones, handheld computers and desktop workstations. Intuitive, Interactive and Innovative - our solutions go beyond traditional organization boundaries by leveraging mobile enterprise software, wireless communications and enabling identification technologies such as RFID for identification and Near Field Communications for interactive and transaction based systems. Tracient has a long history of innovative product offerings in the RFID/NFC Space.

Narian Technologies
Narian Technologies was founded nearly 5 years ago to focus on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology development. Narian has multiple patents and patents pending for hardware, software and network technologies based on NFC. To date, Narian has over 200 defined NFC applications in 15 markets ranging from payments to access control, medical, and more. At Narian, we believe the time for NFC Technology has arrived. Narian Technologies' goal is to develop NFC-based applications and components of larger solutions to help their customers realize the value of this potentially transformational technology. Narian offers both licensing and NFC technical/business consulting services.


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Labels: business, card, mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, technology

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Edited Press Release.

Tokyo, Japan - Sony Corporation yesterday announced that cumulative shipments of its FeliCa contactless integrated circuit (IC) chips have reached 200 million units, as of March 2007. Sony commenced shipments of FeliCa IC cards in 1996, and has since shipped approximately 160 million chips for use in FeliCa-based cards such as "Suica" and "Edy", and over 40 million "Mobile FeliCa" IC chips used in "Osaifu-Keitai" mobile phones with electronic money functions.

Sony achieved cumulative shipments of 100 million FeliCa units within approximately 10 years of launch. Since then, FeliCa shipments reached the 200 million unit mark in just 18 months. The immediate popularity of Osaifu-Keitai mobile phones (launched in summer 2004), and rapid expansion of services such as automatic payment for public transportation systems and electronic money settlement have made major contributions to this growth.

The range of applications for FeliCa continues to increase, with various service providers offering easy, convenient and secure FeliCa-based applications. These include payment for public transportation, electronic money, credit transactions, employee ID, membership cards and point cards - all of which can be used simply by passing a card or mobile phone over a reader/writer. Going forward Sony will also seek to establish FeliCa within industries such as entertainment, dining and sports to extend FeliCa's unique brand of convenience and enjoyment among the widest possible user base.


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Labels: circuit, felica, japan, mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, technology

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Edited Press Release.

ViVOtech, Inc. announced on 7th February 2007 the first deployment of an end-to-end NFC payment and promotion infrastructure software in Taiwan as part of a joint initiative by MasterCard, Taipei Fubon Bank and Taiwan Mobile.

ViVOtech's over-the-air (OTA) infrastructure solution, ViVOnfc Suite 2.0, enables program participants to securely download Taipei Fubon MasterCard® PayPass™ cards, as well as incentive promotions and coupons over the cellular networks directly to their NFC mobile phones. Available for the first time, coupons are also downloaded using NFC technology by simply touching mobile phones on smart posters located throughout the region and at retailer's storefronts.

The trial participants in the program use the ViVOwallet software application on their NFC mobile phones to view and select cards for payment and coupons for redemption ViVOpay-enabled point of sale systems. These contactless systems are installed at some of the most prestigious retailers throughout Taipei and are used by just touching the mobile phone to ViVOpay readers to transfer card or coupon information.

NFC is a very short-range proximity technology that uses radio frequency (RF) to enable secure, contactless communication between devices. Contactless payments are only one of the many data-transfer applications that NFC technology enables, making it an attractive technology for carriers looking to increase handset utility for consumers.

MasterCard PayPass offers consumers a convenient alternative to cash that allows for small-ticket purchases to be completed quickly, securely and easily. Consumers no longer need to fumble for cash and coins, swipe a card, or sign a receipt for any PayPass purchase under US$25. Users simply tap their PayPass-enabled phone, card, or device on the PayPass reader at participating merchants and they are on their way.

The patent-pending ViVOnfc Suite 2.0 is comprised of the ViVOnfc Issuer ServerTM, ViVOnfc Control ServerTM and ViVOwallet® mobile phone application.

* ViVOnfc Issuer Server (VnIS) – The VnIS server resides onsite at the issuer's premises providing secure Softcard provisioning services for mobile payment devices, allowing the issuer to maintain full possession and control of their softcard data that they wish to issue to their customers mobile devices.
* ViVOnfc Control Server (VnCS) – The VnCS server resides onsite at the mobile operator's premises, providing administrative services to support the secure element on a mobile payment device. As such, the VnCS provides for a central secure management point for control of all softcard provisioning to a mobile device. The pre-personalization and provisioning of payment applets to the mobile device, as well as the device authentication and softcard provisioning are controlled and managed by the VnCS.
* ViVOwallet® – ViVOwallet application runs on NFC mobile phones enabling multiple payment-related applications, managing secure data, to enable secure contactless payment transactions. ViVOwallet provides the interface for provisioning softcard data to mobile devices as well as the user interface to transmit payment card or coupon information directly to POS terminals equipped with a contactless reader.

ViVOtech is providing coupon-enabled smart posters and VIVOpay contactless readers for the pilot program. All ViVOtech solution components were delivered in the native Mandarin language to facilitate usage by trial participants. The program went live in February 2007.


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Labels: 2.0, mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, technology

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RFID Asia is glad to announce that the continuous and tremendous support from the RFID Asia community for the RFID Asia 2nd Meeting 2006: Seizing Opportunities and Tackling RFID Challenges in Asia has positioned RFID Asia as the prominent RFID community in Asia.

As the principle of giving back to the RFID community is very important for RFID Asia, we are glad to announce a reduced registration fee of USD 250 for the 2-day event, because we have received a significant support from our community for the success of the event. All registrants who have registered before 28th August 2006 can receive a reimbursement of the payment difference by showing a bank fund transfer receipt and registration proof in the registration desk during the first day of the event.


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Labels: payment, rfid, technology

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MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR
No.: 03-08-2006
SUBJECT: USE AND OPERATION OF RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION (RFID) WITHIN THE 13.553-13.567 MHz, 918–920 MHz, and 2446–2454 MHz BANDS

Whereas, pursuant to EO 546 series of 1979, Act 3846, RA 7925 and to Rule 600 of Memorandum Circular 8-9-95 (Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 7925), the radio spectrum allocation and assignment shall be subject to review in the interest of public service and in order to keep pace with the development in the wireless technology with the view of insuring a wider access to the limited radio spectrum and the use of cost effective technology;

Whereas, the Commission had received several interest from stakeholders, local and international, regarding the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID);

Whereas, the use of RFID is gaining popularity and the widespread adoption of RFID systems on a regional level will reduce the cost implementation for such systems through economies of scale;

Wherefore, the National Telecommunications Commission, hereby issues the following rules and regulations:

1. DEFINITION OF TERMS

1.1 RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Systems) are intended to carry data in suitable transponders, generally known as tags, and to retrieve data, by hand- or machine-readable means, at a suitable time and place to satisfy particular application needs. Data within a tag may provide identification of an item, goods in transit, a location, the identity of persons and/or their belongings, a vehicle or assets, an animal or other types of information.

RFID (radio Frequency Identity) systems employ tiny chips and wireless antennas that can be embedded into products and used for unique identification purposes. It is a contact- less solution that works with proximity readers and RFID tags.

1.2 Proximity readers – a device which transmits an interrogating/querying signal to an RFID tag and receives unique information from the tag. Readers
have two high level versions- those that store data and those that simply store a reference key for look-up on a host system. Readers maybe classified into:
a) low power with erp not exceeding 500 milliwatts, and
b) high power with erp not exceeding 2 watts (or 4 watts eirp).

1.3 RFID tag – a microchip attached to an antenna that picks up signals from and sends signals to a reader. A tag contains a unique number, but may have other information, such as customers’ account number.
RFID tags maybe classified as:
a) active tag - used for long distance purposes such as in toll highways, parking areas, gas stations. This tag uses small batteries which enable it to send signals at a longer distance, and
b) passive tags - used very near or in close proximity to a reader and does not use any internal battery.

2. OPERATING PARAMETERS

2.1 The use and operation of RFIDs shall be allowed in the following frequency bands:
13.553 - 13.567 MHz
918 – 920 MHz
2446 – 2454 MHz

2.2 The maximum effective radiated power for readers is a) low power: 500 milliwatts, and b) high power: 2 watts (or 4watts eirp).

3. TYPE APPROVAL/ACCEPTANCE, REGISTRATION AND LICENSING

3.1 Only type approved/accepted RFID proximity readers shall be allowed for use in the country.

3.2 RFID proximity readers shall be subject to one time registration prior to use and shall bear NTC registration number issued by the Commission for proper identification. The Commission shall device a standard numbering scheme for the registration of RFID proximity readers.

3.3 Only duly accredited radio dealers/manufacturers shall buy, sell and carry on stocks RFID proximity readers that are legally imported, type-approved/accepted and registered with the Commission. However, any individual/entity intending to use, purchase, import RFID proximity readers may be allowed provided that the equipment are type-approved/accepted and shall be registered with the Commission.

3.4 Duly accredited radio dealers/manufacturers shall register with the Commission all imported RFID proximity readers not later than Five (5) days upon release from the Bureau of Customs.

3.5 A report of registered RFID proximity readers shall be submitted by the Regional Offices to the RRLD along with monthly regional licensing report.

4. FEES AND CHARGES

4.1 Proximity readers shall be covered by a certificate of registration to be issued upon one-time payment of the following fees:
a. low power readers, PHP 100.00
b. high power readers, PHP 300.00

4.2 Imported RFID tags shall be covered by Permit to Import to be issued upon payment of Permit fee of PHP 100.00 per 1,000 units.

5. TRANSITORY PROVISION

5.1 RFID proximity readers purchased and/or operated prior to the effectivity of this circular shall be registered after type approval/acceptance within Ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this circular.

6. ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS:

6.1 Violations of any provisions of this circular shall be dealt with in accordance with law.

6.2 The following fines shall be imposed:

6.2.1. Sale of unregistered RFID proximity reader, PHP 5,000.00 per unit or with forfeiture of equipment

6.2.2. Selling of RFID tags not covered by Permit Fee, PHP 2,500.00 for the first offense, PHP 5,000.00 for the second offense, PHP 7,500.00 for the third offense, and so on.

6.2.3. Illegal acquisition of RFID reader, PHP 5,000.00 per unit and/or with forfeiture of equipment

6.2.4. Sale of illegally acquired RFID reader, PHP 5,000.00 per unit or with forfeiture of the equipment.

6.2.5. Non-registration of imported RFID readers within Five (5) days from released from the Bureau of Customs, PHP 1,000.00 per unit.

6.2.6. Selling of RFID proximity readers by non-NTC accredited radio dealers/manufacturers, PHP 5,000.00 per reader, PHP 1,000.00 per 1,000 tags.

6.2.7. Operating RFID proximity reader without valid registration, PHP 5,000.00 per reader

7. The use and operation of RFIDs shall be on an unprotected and non-interference basis i.e. operators cannot claim protection against interference and are not permitted to cause harmful interference to other radio services to which the bands are also allocated. It shall not constrain the operation of other radio services to which the band is also allocated.

This Circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation and three (3) copies furnished the UP Law Center.

Quezon City, Philippines, August 14, 2006.

The original document release can be downloaded from: http://www.ntc.gov.ph/whatsnew/RFID%20memo.pdf


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Labels: antenna, payment, reader, rfid, tag, technology

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The 6th international card technology conference and exhibition, CardEx Asia 2006 will return from 24-26 July 2006 at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur.

CardEx Asia 2006, the region's leading smart card conference and exhibition will feature a host of challenges and opportunities within the region. This year's event themed Converging Minds and Technologies will see experts in smart cards, mobile and contactless payment and RFID from United Kingdom, United States of America, Singapore and Malaysia converging in Kuala Lumpur.

Last year, CardEx Asia exhibition attracted more than 60 exhibitors and the conference featured high profile speakers and delegates. With strong support from internationally acclaimed smart card organisations, CardEx Asia 2006 is expected to attract a larger crowd this year.

A two-day conference themed Combi of Opportunities on Contactless Interface will be held concurrently with the exhibition. The conference will feature renowned international speakers.

Concurrent Events
D'ucoty 2006 Industry Awards
RFID Expo Asia
Secure Malaysia 2006 Conference & Exhibition

For more information, please contact
tel: 603-6140 6666 or fax: 603-6140 8833.
Ms Karen Dass e-mail karendass@protemp.com.my

www.cardexasia.com


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Labels: card, malaysia, mobile, payment, rfid, singapore, technology

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Edited Nokia Press Release

Xiamen, China - On 27th June 2006, Nokia and its collaborators, China Fujian Mobile Communications Co., Ltd., Xiamen Branch, Xiamen E-Tong Card Company Ltd., and Philips, announced the first NFC Mobile Payment Field Trial in China at Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China.

During the trial, one hundred of volunteer consumers of China Mobile in Xiamen will experience first hand the conviniences of mobile payment enabled by NFC technology. The consumers will use the NFC enabled Nokia 3220 mobile phones to make mobile payment through any point-of-sales covered by Xiamen E-Tong Card, including locations such as on the public transportation buses, ferry boats or at restaurants, movie theaters in Xiamen City.

E-Tong Card is a contactless transportation card, conforms to ISO 14443 Type A, compatible with Mifare. It has a volume of issuance of 800,000 in Xiamen City.

In addition to the standard E-Tong Card function, consumers can check their card balance and the last nine transaction records on their mobile phone display. They can also use their Nokia mobile phone to access a built-in, WAP-based website, to find out stores and venues that accept E-Tong Card and the interesting product or service information.

Mobile payment is one of the most welcomed emerging mobile applications. Market research in Shanghai, China by AC- Nielson in 2006 showed that over 80% of consumers are interested in the functional integration of city transportation cards and bank payment cards into mobile phone.

Nokia has launched the world first NFC enabled mobile phone, Nokia 3220, in April 2005. And the commercial trials using Nokia 3220 for mobile payment have been completed successfully in the U. S. A., Germany, and Malaysia.

Mr. Joseph Zheng, Director of NFC Consumer Solutions in China at Nokia Ventures Organization Asia, said: "Nokia is dedicated to innovations from technologies to applications and business models. The successful kick-off of the first NFC Mobile Payment Field Trial is very encouraging to all of us participating in the mobile payment value chain. It also demonstrates our confidence in the NFC technology and the new business model it enables. With the progress of NFC Mobile Payment Field Trial, there would be more types of mobile payment available, which will bring totally new user experiences for the mobile phone users in China, and create values for the whole mobile application ecosystem."

Mr. Xu, volunteer consumer of China Mobile in Xiamen said: "With the integration of E-Tong Card to my mobile phone, I feel so convenient to make payment. It is cool! I hope it will be put into commercial use soon"

NFC is a contactless technology based on open interface and standard platform. Nokia is actively participated in the development of NFC Standards, and co-founded the NFC Forum with Philips and SONY.

With the development of NFC technology, mobile phone becomes a safe, convenient, speedy and fashionable payment instrument. NFC technology is compatible with current contactless smart card infrastructure, so there is no need for significant upfront investment on NFC technology.

NFC device can work under both active and passive mode. For active mode, NFC device can work as a reader and generate its own radio frequency field to identify and read smart card and tag. For passive mode, NFC device can emulate as a card or tag to be read. In this trial, NFC phones work under this passive mode. In addition, two NFC devices can set up communication very conveniently as long as they are close to each other (within 10cm).


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Labels: business, china, malaysia, mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, technology

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Thai's credit card operator, Krungthai Card Plc, will begin RFID "touch-and-go" payment in Bangkok next year. However, due to the high investment cost, the trial will begin modestly.

Labels: card, payment, rfid, technology, trial

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According to industry insiders, trials of mobile phones doubling as payment tools will be taking place in Taiwan shortly, marking a big step for the nation's contactless technology development.

They're using Near Field Communication (NFC), a close-range wireless technology that operates over a few centimeters, enabling the simple transfer of information. Created by Nokia Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics and Sony Corporation, it uses a restricted version of RFID and we've been keen on it for the last 18 months, or so.

Labels: mobile, nfc, payment, rfid, taiwan, technology

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