One of New Zealand’s leading banks, Westpac has announcedthe deployment of NFC stickers that can be attached to phones for contactlesspayments of up to NZD $80 (USD $63.8) as the bank tries to make contactless andmobile payments easier as the transition from card payments to alternativepayment forms like mobile takes place.
According to Westpac which is working with Gemalto andMasterCard on the deployment, customers simply have to attach the sticker tothe back of their mobile handset and can make payments at any contactlessenabled point-of-sale terminal by tapping their phone in a manner exactly likea regular contactless card payment
.
The contactless stickers are set to be initially offered forfree but Westpac plans to eventually charge NZD $4.99 (USD $4) charge for eachsticker issued after the promotional period ends. Commenting on theannouncement, Westpac’s chief product officer Shane Howell said;
“We are also trialing Host Card Emulation (HCE) “digitalwallet” technology which enables credit and debit card details – and over timethings like transport cards, loyalty cards and potentially ID – to beaccessible from Android smartphones. This will be available to our customersfrom early next year.”
Westpac has a long history of innovation and while offeringcontactless stickers may not be the most innovative, they may help the bankencourage customers to shift from card payments to mobile payments more quicklyand subsequently letting the bank offer new and unique mobile banking andmobile payment features to the customers as adoption grows. While charging forthe stickers might limit adoption, the program is poised to be a success.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, International Advisory Service for Mercator Advisory Group
Read full story at Finextra
