10/6/2010 4:55:12 PM
IT Comms news: TFL - 2012 Contactless Credit Card Adoption.
This post is as a follow up to my blog last week about
contactless
payments at the 2012 Games:
While TfL have shelved plans for commuters to pay for their
journeys via NFC-enabled mobile phones, they are keeping a weather
eye on the contactless technology in debit and credit cards
instead.
As ARM reported earlier in the week NFC is a short-range
technology allowing users to make payments by swiping their card or
mobile phone over a reader. It is basically a much easier and
quicker alternative to paying with cash.
TfL is in talks with MasterCard, Visa and American Express,
aimed at letting commuters use contactless cards for travel in
2012. This isn't a replacement for the Oyster cards, but an
alternative for London visitors who don't have a clue about TfL's
contactless ticketing system.
Contactless mobile phone payment isn't as quick as an Oyster
card, but it is a viable alternative and TfL wants to make the
experience as easy as possible, with as many alternatives as
possible to its users.
Damian Hicklin
IT
& Communications Manager
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ARM