Report: future of NFC mobile coupons ‘promising’
10 March, 2010
category: NFC
IBBT, a research institute of the Flemish government, has completed two-year study on the use of NFC-enabled mobile coupons in place of paper vouchers.
The research was conducted in collaboration with Clear2Pay/Integri, Keyware and Accor Services, and addressed mobile coupons’ usability, legal aspects, security and applications.
The technology would enable consumers to pay at the cash desk with meal vouchers they received earlier via MMS on their NFC‐enabled mobile phone.
In addition, the received meal vouchers can be forwarded to another NFC‐enabled mobile phone and balances can be checked at any time.
According to IBBT, results of the so‐called NFC Voucher study are promising and indicate that commercial implementation is feasible. In particular, the study found that the vouchers were perceived as user friendly thanks to the speed of payment and the fact that the application calculates how many meal vouchers need to be spent.
Additionally, legal research showed that electronic meal vouchers are not considered as electronic money so there is no bank license required for the issuers.