JCB, in cooperation with several partners, has begun trials of the Mobile J/Speedy contactless mobile payment scheme in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The near field communication (NFC) mobile payment pilot project has been launched by JCB, CCV Holland, Gemalto, KPN, Nokia, NXP Semiconductors (formerly Philips Semiconductors), PaySquare, and ViVOtech.
Following initial trials in September, the pilot service is now being rolled out to a broader group of JCB’s customers. The project marks Europe’s first contactless international credit payment scheme using a mobile phone with an NFC chip.
Selected JCB cardholders will be provided with a mobile phone by Nokia that is equipped with an NFC chip, developed by NXP and loaded with the JCB payment application specified by JCB and developed by Gemalto. At selected PaySquare merchants, cardholders can securely purchase items by just holding their mobile phone close to ViVOtech’s contactless NFC reader/writer, which is attached to the payment terminal of CCV.
KPN is taking the role of installing the application and personalizing the mobile phones, and CCV is processing the transactions.
JCB designed the scheme and coordinated the project based on its successful experience in contactless technology in Japan.
The first transaction of the pilot was conducted at Sushi Time, a Japanese sushi restaurant in the World Trade Center in Amsterdam. The manager of Sushi Time told JCB that the customers who pay by Mobile J/Speedy are very happy with the speed and ease of this payment solution.
JCB also said that, although it has only been one month since the trial was launched, the increasing number of repeat usage transactions indicates a strong acceptance of the technology and a very successful pilot.