VeriFone Inks NFC, Mobile Marketing Deal in China (Dec. 18, 2012)
Dec. 18, 2012
On the heels of announcing it would cease marketing its mobile POS system directly to merchants, electronic payments service provider VeriFone Systems Inc. has signed a deal to provide NFC payments and mobile marketing in the city of Shen Yang, China. Under the new partnership with China Mobile and Bank of China, VeriFone will equip thousands of merchant POS locations in the city with NFC acceptance technology and deploy its new PAYMEDIA Mobile Marketing Platform to enable merchants and brands to launch targeted digital offers, promotions and digital coupons to mobile wallet users.
Another key element of the program is VeriFone’s PAYMEDIA Universal Acceptance Program, which provides an open standard for full control over NFC mobile acceptance, enabling mobile network operators and wallet providers to download wallet acceptance applications directly to merchant POS systems. “Bank of China and China Mobile are implementing a true end-to-end NFC infrastructure … to make NFC payment and mobile commerce a reality for merchants and consumers,” said Zvi Mitlanski, senior vice president, VeriFone Asia-Pacific.
By the end of the year, China Mobile and Bank of China plan to issue 50,000 SIM cards to equip existing mobile phones with NFC capability. The cards will be marketed through bank branches and China Mobile customer support centers. VeriFone, for its part, said it will expand its NFC and mobile wallet services across China and worldwide via partnerships with mobile operators and wallet providers. China’s mobile payment market is expected to reach 410 million users by 2013, according to Celent, making it the world’s largest mobile payments market.
