“Visa International is fully committed to providing secure payment options that are tailored to the changing needs of our member financial institutions, merchants, and the evolving lifestyles of their customers,” explained Gaylon Howe, executive vice president of consumer product platforms for Visa International. “Both Visa International and Philips share a vision of secure universal commerce and connectivity, whereby consumers can access and pay for physical and digital services anywhere, at any time, using any device.”

Ticketing Applications The ticketing concept suggested involves mobile phone users paying for concert or movie tickets at the box office simply by holding their phone next to the payment terminal. The contactless chip in the phone transfers Visa payment data to the terminal and, once payment is confirmed, sends the tickets back to the phone. The phone user can then transfer a ticket (using Philips’ Near Field Communications [NFC] technology) to a friend’s mobile phone. The payment would be made by a new Visa person-to-person payment concept. Once at the venue, both ticket holders can use their phones to gain access and may also receive electronic discount coupons for on-site merchants.

Travel Applications In terms of travel applications, travellers could book and pay for airline tickets and hotel rooms using their home PC, an NFC enabled mouse, and a contactless Visa payment card. The tickets and airline information are transferred from the PC to the Visa card using NFC, and stored on the card’s chip using Visa Smart Secure Storage (VS3). The card is then used for airline check-in, to board the flight, and to check-in at the hotel. The hotel room key can be transferred to the traveller’s mobile phone (also using NFC) and the phone can then be used to access the room. On departure, the hotel can transfer a receipt to the phone and, once at home, the traveller can transfer the receipt from the phone to a PC for expense reporting.

NFC Roll-out “As we move into the roll-out phase of NFC technology, we are proud to present showcases which represent the first step in providing people with secure access to attractive content using their mobile devices as the central element,” said Scott McGregor, president and chief executive officer for Philips Semiconductors. “It is also a great example of how major players with complementary capabilities can collaborate to bring a vision to life and new services to the market.”

For additional information: Visit Philips at http://www.semiconductors.philips.com Visit Visa at http://www.corporate.visa.com

Copyright 2003 UsingRFID.com

Reprinted with permission from Using RFID (http://www.usingrfid.com/news)

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