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First Data and Tyfone announce partnership for NFC payments by microSD card
We've already seen Visa team up with DeviceFidelity to deliver NFC payments via microSD card, and it looks like they now have some company from First Data and Tyfone, who have just announced a partnership of their own to help bring the technology to the cellphone-toting masses. At the heart of their system is Tyfone's SideTap card made by NXP Semiconductors (pictured after the break), which is not only able to function as an actual memory card in addition to a NFC payment device, but should cost about the same as a regular memory card of the same capacity as well. Using a microSD card instead of a phone with built-in NFC technology also cuts out the need for carriers or phone manufacturers to be involved, which is apparently where First Data comes in, as it will responsible for bringing the cards to consumers (in addition to dealing with retailers, carriers and financial institutions). Complete details on a rollout still seem to be a bit up in the air, but the two companies are promising that it will hit the market in the second half of 2010, with trials slated to begin mid-year.
Nokia cancels NFC-equipped 6216 handset
Visa may be pushing ahead to bring NFC to phones via microSD cards, but it looks like phones with built-in NFC capabilities have now suffered a bit of a setback, as Nokia has officially canceled its already delayed 6216 handset. That phone was a rather unimpressive candy bar in most respects, but it was the first such phone that would have tied NFC payments to a carrier's SIM card, which Nokia had hoped would have been enough to at least give it a foothold, if not kick-start a wave of NFC handsets. For its part, Nokia isn't offering too many details on the reasons for the cancellation, saying only that it felt "the quality of the consumer experience was not what it needed to be," and adding that its "commitment to NFC remains as strong as ever."
Visa teams with DeviceFidelity for contactless payments via microSD card
Visa has been working on contactless (a.k.a. NFC) payments for quite some time, and it's now teamed up with DeviceFidelity in the hope of bringing them to even more cellphone users. That company makes (among other things) a contactless payment system contained on a microSD card which, when paired with Visa's own payWave system, will let you use just about any microSD card slot-equipped cellphone to make pay contactless payments at between 50,000 to 60,000 merchants in the US. Exact specifics are otherwise a bit light, but Visa says trials are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of this year.