News
ViVOtech Awarded for Its Role in Enabling the Biggest NFC Mobile Payment Pilot to Date in India
Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech, the leader in Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments, loyalty and marketing applications and contactless NFC readers, announced today it is the recipient of two major awards for its role as the NFC software solution provider for the Citi Tap and Pay mobile payment pilot in India. ViVOtech was selected as the winner of the Smart Card Alliance "Outstanding Smart Card Achievement" (OSCA) Award for Innovation in Payments Technology and the Contactless Intelligence "Monkey" Awards for Competitive Advantage through Technology.
Citi Tap and Pay was the world's largest and most comprehensive next-generation contactless credit card payments pilot ever undertaken based on NFC technology. ViVOtech provided the underlying technology including the NFC wallet, the Over-the-Air (OTA) card provisioning software, the smart posters and the mobile coupon application in addition to the contactless readers that participating merchants used to accept payments.
"ViVOtech is very excited with the recognition we are receiving for our role in enabling the Citi Tap and Pay pilot as the NFC software solution provider," said Michael Mullagh, CEO of ViVOtech. "ViVOtech's mobile software solution is designed to be easily rolled out to a large base of consumers, and it was proven through delivering over 3,000 users a seamless mobile payment and promotion experience."
ViVOtech provided a complete NFC mobile payment and coupon solution, including the following software, hardware, and services components:
-- Citi Wallet Software distributed with Nokia 6212 NFC mobile phone
-- OTA & Trusted Service Management Software (Control Server) installed
at Vodafone, the participating Mobile Network Operator
-- OTA card provisioning software (Issuer Server) installed at the Citi
India data centre
-- Mobile promotion coupon and smart poster management software
-- Smart posters with ViVOtag technology installed in various shopping
areas
-- NFC contactless readers installed at merchant locations
-- Local support during the trial period
The mobile payment infrastructure deployed with ViVOtech technology allowed pilot participants to purchase NFC-capable Nokia N 6212 classic phones at designated Nokia stores, pre-loaded with Citi Tap and Pay wallet application enabled with MasterCard's PayPass(TM) contactless payment technology. Participants were then able to securely and easily execute an OTA download of their Citibank MasterCard credit card onto their mobile phones. Participants also enjoyed promotional offers by tapping their NFC phones on smart posters, and received coupons in seconds. Post-purchase, participants used their phones to make Tap and Pay transactions at locations displaying the Citi Tap and Pay and MasterCard PayPass(TM) acceptance marks.
With over 3,000 participants the Citi Tap and Pay pilot was a major success. Edgar Dunn & Company in an independent report published in early march said that the "The Tap and Pay mobile proximity payments pilot project in Bengaluru, represented a watershed event in the recent intensive history of Mobile Financial Services." The report went on to say "It was the largest pilot programme of its kind to date.
It identified positive consumer demand, reliability of available technology, and growth in purchase volumes. It demonstrated that with confirmed commitment and investment from industry stakeholders, mobile NFC proximity payments have the potential to generate growth in payments, create value for stakeholders, and help convert cash transactions to electronic payments."