Visa rolls out its first commercial NFC payment system
By Donald Melanson 
posted Apr 9th 2009 2:17PM
posted Apr 9th 2009 2:17PM
Nokia fulfilled its part of the bargain by rolling out its NFC-enabled 6212 cellphone last year, and it looks like Visa is now finally making the phone a good deal more useful -- in Malaysia, at least. That's where the company has launched its first commercial NFC (or Near Field Communications) payment service for point-of-sale transactions, which will let folks simply wave the phone in front of a reader to make a purchase instead of going to the hassle of swiping a card. What's more, it doesn't look like this is simply a limited trial, with 1,800 stores in the country ready to accept the magical payments out of the gate, and Maxis and Maybank on board to let folks easily access their credit account. Better still, Visa has also said that this move finally signals the shift from pilot programs to actual roll-outs, although it's unfortunately not being all that specific about the next few markets on tap just yet.
Sounds like if I lost my phone, I would have to call VISA to cancel my account to prevent fraud. Oh wait, I just lost my phone.
so you'd have to buy a phone card to use on a public telephone. Oh, wait, you just lost your credit card!
So you lost your phone... You need to call the provider to Block it. You also need to call Visa to block your account...
So you try to find a Payphone... Buy those dont exist anymore...
PWNING yourself.... Priceless!
No iphonekiller here!!!
Jebus you're a friggen idiot. It's a technology inside a phone.
eat sh*t and die. Get your visa wave card and stick it on the back of your goddamn iphone.
Don't be so short with people... :)
Wait so let me get this straight, if I'm shopping in a mall then I should be careful not to get too close to the check out counter, or I might accidentally buy something? Is that how this works?
no.
@UnixSystemsEngineer
best reply ever:P
sweet
I don't know enough about this yet to judge, but in general I'm wary of these types of quickpass/magic/whatever scanning, particularly on consumer ready mobile devices. Seems like we're making identity theft easier and easier for the sake of convenience.
I disagree. I mean, I don't know the specifics either, but how is waving something over a reader any different than swiping it through a reader (in terms of security)?
There's already a net connection to make the purchase work, so why not do something like have it pull your account photo, and display it on the cashier's screen for verification?
about time
Old News! Singapore has had a system similar to this for years now.
This is stupid.
So I'm guessing we'll be seeing this on the next 10 years from now here in the U.S?... 15 years to be safe...
so i wonder if there gonna be some devices to intercept the signals, or hackers that will some how get the info
ahahaah!!! - Actually, there are a lot of pay phones in Malaysia.
Due to fraud, Malaysia has already moved from magnetic strip cards to smart cards. Smart cards have a chip to store information and require a PIN to make atransaction. Moving this technology to a cell phone, something almost everyone in the major cities of Malaysia already has, makes sense. They have long been able to order pizza, movie tickets, get discount coupons, etc with their phones via SMS. This just takes the concept one step further.
If you lose your phone, you simply call and report it to the cell provider, Maxis.
Whoever finds your phone can't make a purchase without the PIN.
Well, wait a minute. If you have to use a PIN, then what's the big convenience??
Haha that would be pretty funny, but no it will accidentally slip by the payment sensor just as well as you credit card accidentally slips into the card slot and the cashier accidentally hits the payment button.
It would make a great excuse for the wife/girlfriend though. I swear I did't mean to buy it but I just went by the cash register and automatically paid for it with my phone
That was supposed to be in reply to Nelagster.
And here I thought all the people complaining about Engadget's commenting system were just idiots who couldn't press the reply button :(
-Idiot
I hope this doesn't catch on over here. Yeah, you could always not use the technology if you don't want it (which I don't, because it's incredibly stupid), but if it goes mainstream, you won't have a choice but to pay an extra $20 premium per phone or whatever when you change phones.
Cool! My dad helped develop this technology
TSYS played a major role in this tech
why not do payments via sms?
incoming text:
do you authorize purchase for $120 @ Apple Store, NYC?
outgooing text:
yes (add secret passcode)
The big difference between "paywave" and this tech is that the phone can talk TO the "credit card" and the credit card can talk (via the internet) to Visa (or more accurately, the card issuer.. Visa is just a network, remember)
For example, you could check your balance on your phone. Or authorise a money transfer to another account. Or put credit on your phone. Or provide different challenge response authorisation techniques.. Since the phone is merely a UI, it is in theory secure..
Seriously, many posters don't have a clue and are doing nothing more than guessing how the system works in order to criticise issues they think might exist.. I'm sure people bitched and moaned about chip and pin.. but it's widely adopted because it helps reduce fraud..
till somebody hacks you like them old RFID gas pump keychains you could swipe at liek the mobile or exxon stations,
I can't wait for this to become universal
They should rename it the NSF payment system
I guess those ads: no credit no problem are now meaningless! No credit = no phone!