Citibank Says High-Volume NFC Pilot Shows Strong Usage

The pilot is intended to help Citibank gain customer and merchant feedback about the system, including how well it works and how it can be improved. "The pilot will also give us further concrete insight into the business model, which will govern any such large-scale NFC customer implementation," says Satish Menon, the executive VP of Citi Growth Ventures, a worldwide Citibank team organized to help launch new innovation.

This is Citibank's largest NFC pilot in the entire world to date, the company reports, and is intended to determine whether the technology works effectively in high volumes. The pilot is being undertaken in Bangalore because of its high density of tech- and mobile phone-savvy residents.

"The Citi Tap and Pay pilot is a demonstration of our belief that contactless mobile payment services will be a key lifestyle driver for our highly mobile, international and increasingly urban customer base," Menon states. With the pilot, he notes, Citibank aims to build momentum for faster and wider adoption of contactless technology for mobile phones worldwide, by developing a business model for the system. Thus far, he says, the pilot's participants have made more than 40,000 Tap and Pay transactions, and every customer who has signed up for the program has used his or her phone to make a purchase at least once. "We're also seeing that Tap and Pay customers are more active than their plastic-using counterparts."

Thus far, ViVOtech has tested its technology in 37 trials worldwide, including most recently in Dubai, using smart posters in malls. At the conclusion of the pilot, Khan says, Citibank intends to review the results with industry members. "With their support, we would then explore opportunities to further develop the mobile payments platform," Menon adds. "We believe in the limitless opportunities that such an environment presents, but also recognize the immediate challenges in terms of commercialization, cost, scalability and system-readiness."

What's more, Khan says, there may still be several more Citibank and ViVOtech pilots in the works in the coming months—not only in India, but also in other parts of Asia and on other continents.