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Passing the contactless reader?

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Instead of ‘passing the hat’ UK street performer takes plastic

Street performers typically keep their guitar case open or have a hat available for passersby to leave donations. The UK term for this is busking and Peter Buffery is taking it to a new level.

Accepting contactless cards only Buffery will entertain crowds on his specially designed guitar that is equipped with contactless technology for listeners to make a donation to charity using cards provided by Barclays and Barclaycard. The contactless card reader was built into the head of the instrument as to not affect the sound. Buffery is a musician based between London and North Devon, studying Music Technology at Kingston University and working on his debut album

Situated outside EAT. in London’s Soho Square, Barclays and Barclaycard issued passers-by with pre-paid contactless cards. Each donation of £5 made from the cards through the payment system on the contactless guitar will go towards the goal of £2,500 to be donated to Help a London Child.

While Buffery busked, listeners were able to hold their contactless cards over the head of the unique guitar to make a donation – with no scrabbling in pockets for change required.

The £2,500 raised by the Contactless Busker will fund at least one of Help a London Child’s small grants. This could be used to pay for specialized musical instruments for young people with disabilities, music workshops for less advantaged teenagers or even transport costs for young careers allowing them to attend a concert and take a break from their everyday responsibilities.

OTI granted U.S. patent for contactless 'Smart SIM'

On Track Innovations has received a U.S. patent for adding contactless capability to existing mobile handsets through contactless SIM technology.

U.S. Patent No. 8,090,407, aka “Contactless Smart SIM,” covers the capabilities necessary to turn existing mobile handsets into NFC-enabled devices through the use of a SIM card and a specifically designed antenna, all while keeping the phone and operating system “fully agnostic,” says OTI.

Survey: French want fingerprint payments

A recent survey conducted by Wincor Nixdorf shows that a strong majority of French consumers are interested in using fingerprint scanning technology to secure transactions.

Superdrug launches contactless payment at more than 50 stores

Superdrug, one of Britain’s largest beauty and health retailers, has introduced contactless payment for its in-store customers, according to Retail Gazette.

Created by Streamline and Visa Europe, the contactless system will enable customers to make payments of up to £15 (approx. USD $23) by simply waving their contactless bank card at the more than 50 participating Superdrug stores in London and Liverpool.

Survey: Germans coming around to NFC, contactless payments

A new survey from Euro Kartensysteme shows that Germans are starting to embrace the idea of contactless and NFC payments.

Out of 1,040 Germans aged 18-59, 43% responded that they would like to make contactless payments if given the opportunity, of which 58% percent would make their payments with a debit card card, 41% with a credit card and 50% with an NFC phone.

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