NFC technologies piloted in Singapore

Another NFC mobile phone payment trial is being conducted in Singapore by Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech, the leader in Near Field Communication (NFC) and contactless payment systems. Its NFC mobile payment wallet, Over-the-Air (OTA) payment, coupon delivery and redemption technologies are being used jointly by NETS, SingTel and United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB).

It is the first solution allowing users to simply open a coupon on their NFC-enabled phones and flash it to a NETS FlashPay reader for automatic redemption. With the trial the companies also introduce the first Stored Value Purse in Asia on NFC mobile phones and Over-the-Air (OTA) servers with the capability to download and top-up stored value accounts on the NFC phones.

Within the program frames SingTel users can download a SingTel wallet application to store and top up value on the mNETS payment application in their phones at any time. This will allow users to make payments using NETS FlashPay by merely flashing their SingTel mobile phones at more than 500 participating merchants islandwide, each one equipped with ViVOpay 5000 NETS FlashPay contactless terminals. Customerc can top-up the mNETS card over the air at any time from anywhere via the phone after having registered a SingTel-UOB credit card.

SingTel customers will also be offered discounts and other incentives and freebies via an electronic coupon application installed in the SingTel wallet. After a simple flash of NFC-powered mobile phone on mNETS posters or at other smart billboards a user receives the mNETS Coupon that is affiliated with the promotion. The coupon is automatically redeemed by a simple flash on NETS FlashPay readers.