Payter Expands Its Electronic Wallet

For a user to access the application, the phone must first be turned on. Transaction security can be managed in three ways, Willemse says. In one case, a consumer can set the phone to keep the payment application activated, enabling that shopper to make payments by simply tapping the phone at the POS interrogator. In the second scenario, a user can set the application to make a single payment only, then deactivate. If the application deactivates, the person must use a unique password to reactivate it for another transaction. In the final option, a user can set the payment application to turn on only during a transaction, which would require entering the password each time a payment is made, and to otherwise remain deactivated. This would add a layer of security for consumers, since no one else could use a participant's phone for payments without entering that person's password.

In December, Payter will add several more features, such as enabling users to utilize the phone as a loyalty card entitling them to discounts at the point of sale. In addition, participating movie theaters will deploy smart posters containing NFC RFID tags. Tapping their phones against the posters will direct users to Web sites where they can download movie trailers or purchase movie tickets at that theater.

NFC readers will also be installed at parking garages in downtown Rotterdam. Users will be able to tap their phones against an interrogator as they enter, and the garage's ticketing device will begin clocking the time their car is parked in the garage. While shopping, the consumers can use the phones to download parking vouchers from participating merchants, storing those vouchers on the phone's NFC chip. When they subsequently pay for parking, they can tap the phones against the reader on the way out. The device captures the vouchers and deducts the amount from the parking fee, and any balance is deducted from the prepaid account.

Eventually, Payter hopes to see memberships to tanning salons and health clubs, as well as public transportation tickets, stored on the chip, or at the company's Web site. The pilot is not tied to any particular chip or device, Willemse says, adding, "We are focused on creating an electronic wallet for a broad public, not limited to specific devices, banks or operators but open to all users."

Once the pilot is completed in February, Payter hopes to expand the system to other cities in the Netherlands, and in other parts of Europe. The goal, Willemse says, is to see the system in use across Europe within five years. But before that can happen, he adds, NFC-enabled phones must first become more commonplace, as well as NFC readers at retail sites. "We will need enough phones and infrastructure before we can fully roll out," he says.