NFC adoption still years away as mPOS surges ahead, says Spire

Near Field Communication (NFC) has failed to live up to its promise and widespread adoption is still years away, says Spire Payments.
November 4, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

Near Field Communication (NFC) has failed to live up to its promise and widespread adoption is still years away, says Spire Payments.

Not everyone at CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS would agree - but Spire CEO Kazem Aminaee is betting big on mPOS products, whose adoption in multiple territories has helped Spire cement its place as the third POS provider in the market. “We have a 30% market share now in the expanding mPOS space,”he adds. By contrast, contactless card payments have only reached 1% of global payment transactions despite the promise the technology shows, Aminaee says.

“NFC did not take off because of the technology itself and the complexity around the ecosystem. The time and cost of device manufacturers getting devices certified is high.”Take-up rates will continue to be slow, he predicts: “Everyone has invested so much in NFC that it will take off one day but it will take five to ten years.”The company, which acquired Thyron Payment Systems in 2013, will ship 500,000 terminals this year and is focusing on increasing its geographic reach as it predicts sustained annual growth of 25%.

It now sells into 22 countries, with major customers in EMEA and trials underway throughout Europe. Developing markets, particularly in Asia and Latin America, are a key area for growth. This year it made its first sales in Argentina and Chile and will add Mexico early in 2015 and Brazil after that.
Thousands of taxi drivers in Chennai also use its entry-level solution via Indian Overseas Bank. “mPOS is the truly global innovation because it brings advantages to merchants,”says Aminaee. “It also brings advantages for the acquirers because they can now touch the whole merchant business.

In Europe there are three to five million merchants that do not accept cards and mPOS brings them the capability to accept payments at a much lower cost.”

Larger retailers are also moving over to mPOS, he adds. “Medium and major retailers can also benefit from cheaper access to payment services than by using cash registers and contact payment terminals.”Ultimately the market will gravitate to payment solutions without a separate terminal, combining instead an open platform mobile device running Android or IOS with a secure platform that can process payments on the same machine. “Thatís something we are working on,”concludes Aminaee.

Related Content

  • Growing use of PC-based systems for urban traffic control
    February 1, 2012
    Siemens Mobility's Mark Bodger discusses the growing use of PC-based systems for urban traffic control. Across the ITS sector, there is a common trend of taking traffic and travel management out of the hands of bespoke solutions, realising the use of common, open-source technologies and solutions and enjoying all the attendant economies of scale and ease of use which that implies.
    Read More
  • Brazil opts for freeflow tolling
    April 9, 2014
    David Crawford explores the technical background of Brazil’s First multi-lane free-flow tolling system. The 2013 opening of Brazil’s first fully-operational, all-vehicle, multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) tolling system in the state of São Paolo has set the scene for a new phase of modern electronic fee collection (EFC) deployment in Latin America’s largest country. It has toll programmes at both federal and state levels, with São Paulo – the most populous state, with the largest road network – leading in the awa
    Read More
  • Vicon appoints representative for South America’s Mercosur countries
    June 20, 2012
    Vicon Industries, a leading designer and producer of network video management systems, has announced that FVR Security will serve as the company’s representative within the countries of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. Headquartered in Sao Paolo, Brazil, FVR Security has more than ten years of expertise providing physical and video security management solutions through the use of information technology. The firm is a silver partner of Motorola Solutions, making the addition of Vicon’s cameras
    Read More
  • Dallas Area Rapid Transit opts for Vix Technology open payments system
    October 7, 2015
    Smart ticketing and payment technology provider Vix Technology is to implement a new state-of-the-art comprehensive fare payment system for DART, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, utilising its eO (easy and open) product. The eO system, an account based, open payments and PCI compliant fare collection platform will provide DART customers with the flexibility to pay via NFC-enabled smartphones, third party or agency-issued transit cards or to use EMV contactless cards.
    Read More

Highlighted Content