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back to article NFC mobe-touchpay trial does end run round handset makers

A bank, a network operator and a transport company will be deploying a payment infrastructure based on Near Field Communications (NFC) technology in mobile phones, but without inviting handset manufacturers to the party. StarHub will be running the invitation-only trial of NFC payments in Singapore with DBS Bank, featuring …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ah, yes, Singapore.

    Japan would be the obvious choice, except that as a non-Japanese company you can barely get into that market, certainly not the phone market.

    So instead it's Disneyland with the death penalty. That makes perfect sense, seeing how it's a nicely small country that's regulated, digitalised, and big brothered up the gills already. Meaning that success there doesn't necessarily translate to success elsewhere, but it's a neat sidestepping of objections from privacy activists. In that, this move is as much a marketing ploy as it is expediency.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Not Japan

      Japan is a primarily cash based society, so that would pretty much count it out for any electronic payments trial.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Anonymous Coward

        If that is so,

        why do people keep on putting it forward as an example of successful RFID-waving-around payments?

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    SIM cards in Japan?

    "Japan would be the obvious choice, except that..."

    The majority of Japanese mobile networks don't use SIM cards?

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  3. OffBeatMammal

    nice to see the OEMs get a wakeup call

    the OEMs are too happy sitting back and trying to force the pace while they lock customers into their platform so it's great to see them get a wakeup call like this (interesting following earlier El Reg article about how customers not being loyal to any of the smartphones ... interesting to see how happy users are to dump a platform and apps to move to a new shiny device as well)

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  4. Simon Rockman

    If the operators are so desperate for NFC phones...

    They should just order some. The *only* reason there aren't any phones with NFC is that operators think it should be thrown in free by the handset manufacturers.

    Even stocking an additional colour of phone has a significant stock-keeping, spares and warehousing overhead. Having a new technology which needs testing and a returns procedure has to be paid for.

    Simon

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