Mobile aggregator and AIME sponsor member txtNation have partnered with Europe’s largest supplier of NFC tags and products, RapidNFC, to become the first to offer direct operator billing via NFC technology.
Using NFC tags, compatible mobile phones can scan the tag, launching a tailored payment interface. The user simply confirms payment and is billed. Users browsing via WiFi, rather than their mobile data plan, are prompted to enter their mobile number to continue payment.
The NFC tags are tiny microchips which RapidNFC can incorporate into a wide selection of products from stickers, smart posters and wristbands to promotional items such as pens, key fobs, bar mats and various other merchandise.
Whilst other NFC methods exist, txtNation have introduced a solution without any complicated signup process. Without additional linking of a phone to a bank account,card payment or by entering a username or password, users can be billed with txtNation’s solution with a quick NFC tap and a one-click confirmation on a mobile Web page.
Through their 3G or 4G connections, a user is charged securely and quickly to their monthly mobile contract or pay-as-you-go balance.
The solution works in any country where carriers support MSISDN pass-through, so the user can enjoy “one-click billing”. To kickstart this new solution, txtNation have been trialling it with Payforit, the UK’s latest and most prominent direct carrier billing scheme.
Popular already for charity donations, the solution has potential for event ticketing and even tangible goods. It could be used through a point-of-sale terminal, or the merchant’s PC, laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
txtNation Director and co-founder Jon Rowsell said ‘it’s great to be first to market with this. It’s something we’ve been conceptualizing for a while and to be able to finally offer NFC, combined with carrier billing, for those early end user and merchant adopters, means that anyone with an NFC-enabled phone in the UK can use this. More and more phones are coming with NFC enabled, and clients are wanting to take advantage of this impressive technology.’
He adds ‘It is expected that NFC will become a mass market payment system, with the likes of weve.com or or Visa’s payWave app coming on stream. txtNation’s solution, however, is available today without the need for further consolidation in the market or increased cooperation between operators. txtNation has pioneered mobile billing and messaging over the past 10 years and is proud to be at the forefront of what promises to be a popular payment method.’
Direct Carrier Billing through a user’s mobile network, unlike questionable bank-linked NFC, means there is an SMS confirmation for every transaction made, boosting consumer confidence and giving true billing transparency.
Consumers and businesses alike want an easy-to-use system that requires no user registration, providing friction-free, one-touch billing. txtNation and RapidNFC can provide this today, so clients can instantly deploy and get started in an exciting new sector.
“We’ve been approached by a number of clients looking for a quick and simple way of making NFC payments” says Phil Coote, CEO of RapidNFC, “and to date we haven’t been able to recommend anything as there has been nothing in the market worth shouting about. When txtNation approached us with this concept we immediately knew this was going to be a ground breaking product, and set to work on a prototype. The result is fantastic, nothing like we have seen before and so easy for clients to deploy to accept payments from not only all those with NFC on their handsets, but anyone with a mobile internet browser.”
txtNation are offering interested businesses the chance to try the service for free, by providing an NFC payment sticker to their door, by emailing Kelli Smith, Corporate Affairs; k.smith@txtnation.com with your company name, postal address and where you would like to deploy NFC billing, and txtNation will deliver you an NFC tag pre-encoded with their billing solution.
