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Garanti Bank issues PayPass-enabled wristwatch in Turkey
Apparently, even swipeless credit cards are too much of an inconvenience to carry around in Turkey, or else Garanti Bank and MasterCard are just doing a fine job of whispering PayPass into those ears that are now tuned in. Gimmick or not, the two firms have partnered up to dole out a few limited edition timepieces that not only sport embedded PayPass modules to skip the painful John Hancock procedure altogether on basic, low-dollar purchases, but also feature a flashy and surprisingly tawdry motif. The bright orange watch rocks a few soccer balls, er, footballs on the face, and also includes a handy date feature to keep you on track. No word on exactly how one would go about procuring one of these contactless payment watches, but if your Garanti account is pushing six or seven figures, we'd say you've got some leverage.[Via TechDigest]
NAB ripping off MasterCard with anti-Sirius/XM merger ad: priceless.
Not only is the NAB getting its own panties all up in a bunch over the looming threat of a satellite radio "monopoly", it has also managed to wedgie-fy MasterCard's britches, too. A new anti-Sirius / XM merger copycat ad of MC's signature "Priceless" campaign has been making the rounds -- the irony apparently lost on on the NAB that hiring a would-be-lobbyist for the other side and knocking off someone else's ad campaign smells very much of bad business. It's no surprise that MasterCard cried copyright infringement, which prompted the NAB to stop running the ad altogether. Michelle Lehman, the NAB's EVP of Marketing and Communications and Regulatory Affairs, confirms the cessation but also points out that the ad's already gotten a bunch of attention anyway. NAB losing its cool and cred in front of the industry? Now that's priceless.[Via Orbitcast]
MasterCard tries to best EZ-Pass with PayPass
While riding around the roads, paying for tolls have always either been cash or a windshield mounted transponder like EZ-Pass or FasTrak. Well, for some motorists in Ohio, there's now a third option. For the next three months, select exit tolls along the Ohio Turnpike will be outfitted with self-service machines that accept MasterCard's PayPass. The trial run allows drivers wielding the appropriate cards to easily pay their toll with the contact-less system, not unlike the EZ-Pass. Vending machines around those exits will also sport PayPass options for added convenience. Hopefully, this convenience won't also be making life easier for hackers.[Via The Wireless Report]
Details emerge on Cingular's NFC plans
We'd previously noticed that Cingular was collaborating with Citigroup on some sort of mobile payment system in New York City, though details were pretty slim for the picking at the time; now the carrier has come out with full disclosure on exactly what it is they have up their sleeves. Like its Atlanta trial last year, the New York program involves Nokia handsets fitted with NFC (near-field communication) guts -- though for the sake of the trial participants, we hope Cingular is offering something a little more up-to-date than the lowly 3220 this time around. Unlike Atlanta, however, Cingular has switched up their financial partner from Chase / Visa to Citi / Mastercard, giving users the ability to use their phone for payment anywhere Mastercard's PayPass system is accepted. Parties involved expect the trial to last a total of three to six months, at which point we should all have a better perspective on how folks feel about shedding cash by tapping their cellphones against various surfaces. Of course, Japan seems to like it just fine -- so why not us?
Researchers hack RFID credit cards. Big surprise.
RFID has been riddled with so many problems, it's amazing that anyone even has a shred of confidence in this technology at all. Our latest security problem du jour is that credit card companies are apparently issuing plastic that relays your digits wirelessly; as you might have guessed, security researchers are checking into this, and in a demonstration for The New York Times, easily hacked a University of Massachusetts computer science professor's newfangled RFID credit card. In short order (and with his permission), a researcher working with RSA Labs was able to steal the professor's name and credit card number that was being transmitted in cleartext -- thereby poking massive holes in Visa, MasterCard and American Express' claims that these card include "the highest level of encryption allowed by the U.S. government." Predictably, the credit card companies have already dismissed claims that the populus will be greatly affected by this hack. Brian Triplett, senior vice president for emerging-product development for Visa, told the Gray Lady: "This is an interesting technical exercise, but as a real threat to a consumer - that threat really doesn't exist." Well, Brian, care to put your plastic where your mouth is?[Via TechDirt]