ContactlessNews | Vodafone rolls out prepaid contactless cards in Italy

Friday, October 7, 2011

Vodafone Italia has teamed up with CartaSi to offer customers a prepaid card that can be used to purchase goods via NFC technology.

Launched with the support of MasterCard and l’Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane, Vodafone’s Smart Pass card can be used for both contactless payments at PayPass-enabled points of sale, as well as standard chip and pin transactions.

Smart Pass, which is linked to the user’s mobile phone number, can be topped up in the same way as a prepaid mobile phone at some 200,000 points throughout Italy and through all CartaSi channels, according to Vodafone.

In addition to the card, Vodafone has also launched a new mobile banking app that allows users to check and manage their balances, transfer money from card to card, shop online and pay bills from their mobile phone.

“Vodafone Smart Pass is our first step towards the NFC ecosystem,” said Vodafone Italia in a release, adding that SIM-based NFC contactless payments transactions are soon to follow.

HSBC starts roll out of contactless bank cards

HSBC announced that it will begin the conversion to contactless technology this month, replacing all customer banking debit cards, according to ThinkMoney.com.

The bank will start to roll out the new contactless cards to existing customers whose debit cards are due to expire this month and then continue the process as cards expire. Customers who don’t want a contactless card can opt out by contacting their bank before their current card expires.

Denizbank joins Cep-T Cuzdan NFC payments platform

Denizbank, a private bank with 588 branches in Turkey, has joined Turkcell’s Cep-T Cuzdan platform, enabling its customers to make contactless payments with their NFC-enabled handsets.

Asda supermarket trials contactless payments

Asda Stores Ltd., a British supermarket chain, is planning to trial contactless payment technology in 25 of its stores, according to Computerworld UK.

The contactless systems will be supplied by both Visa and payment value chain Streamline. Customers will be to simply tap the reader with their contactless-enabled card to pay for goods up to £15, rising to £20 June 1, potentially reducing queue times.

Vodafone, Visa to deliver NFC payment worldwide

Vodafone and Visa have announced a partnership to enable consumers to pay for goods and services using their mobile phones.

Available to Vodafone’s 398-million customer base across the globe, the mobile wallet service will feature a Vodafone stored value account – based on the Visa prepaid account – that uses Visa payWave technology to perform mobile contactless transactions at the point of sale.

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