NFC startup Narian is launching smartphone software designed to help local retailers introduce mobile payments technology to their shops and restaurants, saying that wireless transactions could cut queue times and improve customer experiences. NFC chips, which allow data such as credit card details to travel short distances to reading devices, such as scanners, are already embedded in mobile devices created by Google, Nokia and Research in Motion.
Narian is marketing the wave and pay software as “ease of use”, claiming that retailers will be able to recoup “lost sales” from customers who are too impatient to queue at a till in-store. The suite of tools is understood to include the “line pager”, which alerts users when they are next in a queue, or the “service pager”, which allows customers to request the cheque or more bread without needing to get the attention of a waiter by tapping a reader device, reports the Wall Street Journal. The firm plans to charge an initial USD20 fee for NFC stickers and subsequent USD0.5 charge when a customer uses the device.
As the technology becomes more mainstream, customers will be able to make transactions, redeem daily deals and earn loyalty points with the mobile payments market expected to grow into a multi-billion dollar industry over the next few years. Despite the expectation that consumers will be wary of sharing payment details in the short term, the technology is expected to be processing some USD50bn worth of transactions by 2014 and 40m NFC-enabled phones are forecast to ship by the end of this year alone.
Google pipped competitors to the post with the launch of its Mobile Wallet payment system, and its recent USD12.5bn acquisition of tablet and smartphone maker Motorola Mobility is being seen as a springboard for the firm’s mobile payments push. Despite this early lead, competition is already heating to fever pitch with firms across payment, mobile operator and manufacturing sectors teaming up to create more leverage in the fast-moving market.
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