Smart Card Alliance Creates Mobile and NFC Council

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. -- The Smart Card Alliance has formed the Mobile and NFC Council in an effort to raise awareness and accelerate the adoption of the several applications possible with Near Field Communications (NFC) technology.

According to the non-profit group, there are an estimated 100 million smartphones containing NFC today. The council will take a broad industry view and bring together its members in different vertical markets that can benefit from mobile and NFC applications, including payments, loyalty, marketing, coupons, identity access control and more.

The council already has attracted 60 organizations and 120 individuals to date, the Smart Card Alliance said.

More specifically, the council will provide educational resources for companies implementing NFC applications; provide a business-focused organization where members can collaborate, network and share new mobile and NFC applications; and identify and collaborate with other industry organizations to discuss, define and promote standards for NFC application implementations.

"Many think of payments when they hear NFC, but the technology opens the door to many industries for innovative applications, such as ticketing, digital content exchange, secure identification, social networking, and communication between electronic devices," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "The Mobile and NFC Council will provide a bridge between NFC technologies and the industries who want to adopt NFC-enabled mobile devices to discuss and promote common standards and best practices." The Mobile and NFC Council is managed by a newly formed cross-industry steering committee. Elected to the council were:

  • Trusted service managers: Amol Deshmukh, Gemalto; Sridher Swaminathan, First Data Corp.
  • NFC chip and secure element manufacturers: Scott Allan, NXP Semiconductors; Brent Bowen, INSIDE Secure
  • NFC tag suppliers: Rob Zivney, Identive
  • NFC security/testing/certification labs: Berend van Geffen, Collis
  • Consultants/consulting firms/mobile solutions evangelists: Deborah Baxley, Capgemini; Nick Norman, Consult Hyperion
  • Systems integrators: Doug Morgan, C-SAM
  • Financial institutions: Peter Ho, Wells Fargo; Scott Rau, Chase Payment brands: Josh Kessler, MasterCard Worldwide; Chandra Srivastava,
  • POS equipment supplier: JC Raynon, VeriFone; Gerald Schoenecker, Ingenico
  • And Value-added service providers: Javed Chaudry, ViVOtech; David deKozan, Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc.
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