Yasmin Ghahremani, CFO Magazine
October 1, 2008

NFC Reader Systems

The U.S. must try to "catch up" to Europe and Japan in this arena. Everyone in the U.S. is already carrying a Cell Phone. We must push to get U.S. cell phone makers to produce the NFC Chip that must be added to a phone to use as a Contactless payment method. I like to use my contactless credit card as much as possible as well, but many retailers haven't signed on yet. I don't know if they are waiting for all upgrades, but manufacturers need to be ready now, anticipating the future instead of catching up. My company has a Contactless Reader head in place now for vending, that will incorporate Contactless and NFC already. The U.S. needs to follow suit! It is the most secure, advanced system out there and would virtually eliminate identity theft. Who and where do we need to push?

Posted by Terri Starnes-Bryant | Oct 29, 2008 4:24 PM ET

merchant acceptance is strong in targeted retail segments

Dave,

Comparing mobile banking adoption with contactless payments adoption is an apples to oranges comparison. There is nothing to mobile banking accept a web browser on my phone - and it is free. I can't go into a pharmacy, movie theatre, convenience store anymore without seeing a contactless POS reader. Maybe you are not a "quick service junkie" like me. I use my contactless card at least 5 times a week.

Posted by Randy Vanderhoof | Oct 7, 2008 11:14 AM ET

Faltering?

Hi Randy,

While the number of cards being issued is growing steadily, I've had disappointing experiences with acceptance in the U.S.

http://digitaldebateblogs.typepad.com/digital_money/2008/04/museum-pieces.html

I think "faltering" is an acceptable word until there's more progress on the acceptance side, and you know that I'm a big fan of the technology.

All the best,
Dave.

Posted by Dave Birch | Oct 7, 2008 6:40 AM ET

contactless cards have faltered? No way

Jasmine writes "While contactless cards have faltered in the United States, mobile-phone banking has taken off..." I did not read anything in the article to support such a claim. The facts are that there are over 35 million contactless cards issued and an estimated 20 million have been used in only 3 years and consumer usage is still growing (only 25% are aware of this technology today). It took PIN debit 7 years to reach this penetration and mobile phones using this technology will accelerate adoption event faster. Mobile banking is a great technology that will catch on, but not at the expense of contactless payments, but because of it. Check the facts at www.smartcardalliance.org.

Randy Vanderhoof
Executive Director
Smart Card Alliance

Posted by Randy Vanderhoof | Oct 3, 2008 2:01 PM ET