Latest news with #contactlessPayments
Irish Times
25-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Dublin transport contactless payment system not operational until 2029, says minister
Contactless payments across Dublin's bus, tram and railway public transport networks will not be fully operational until 2029, Darragh O'Brien has told an Oireachtas hearing. The first testing phase of the 'next-generation ticketing' contactless payments system will be introduced in 2027 in a 'controlled area within Dublin across bus, rail and Luas', the Minister for Transport told Wednesday's Oireachtas hearing on 2025 transport estimates. A second phase is scheduled to run in summer 2028, with a third one to follow in 2029, he said. 'Obviously how we roll it out will be dependent on the first phase – if that goes well and the testing of that is robust and we don't require many system changes,' Mr O'Brien said in response to a query on the system from Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman. 'By 2027 to 2029 we would have the system fully operational.' READ MORE The Minister said he was investigating whether it was possible to 'shorten the distance' between the first two testing phases, but he could not give a commitment on that. 'It is a roll-out of, effectively, a whole new contactless ticketing system that's going to be with us for a generation and will make a very significant change.' A National Transport Authority report published this year stated contact payments on public transport would take about three years to deliver. Spanish company Indra is responsible for the introduction of the contactless system across bus, tram and rail services. Asked by Fine Gael TD Grace Boland whether the Government planned to maintain the 90-minute €2 fare beyond the end of this year, Mr O'Brien said it was his 'intention to keep that'. The Minister also referred to the extension of free travel for five- to eight-year-olds from September and extending student travel fares to 25-year-olds. Anecdotally, recent fare reductions have resulted in more people taking public transport, the Minister said. However, it was difficult to quantify how many people were opting for bus or rail as a result of such price cuts, he said. Recently published data showed more than one million public transport journeys are now taken in Dublin daily. The Oireachtas committee also heard how the number of electric-vehicle (EV) charging points across the State remained far behind the European Union average. At present, there are seven EV charging posts for every 10,000 people, compared to an EU average of 20 per 10,000 and 13 per 10,000 in the UK, Sinn Féin's Pa Daly told the committee. People needed to have 'confidence that the battery will take them far enough, but also that they'll be able to recharge around the State', Mr Daly said. He also cited a recent warning from the Climate Change Advisory Council that the Government did not support access for lower-income families to EVs, which jeopardised emissions targets. Acknowledging that the number of charging points was below the EU average, Mr O'Brien said his department was addressing the shortfall and investigating EV grant options for lower and middle-income families and for rural dwellers. Asked if this would include grants for second-hand EVs, Mr O'Brien said it would. Earlier on Wednesday, the Minister told Newstalk Breakfast radio he did not expect the State would hit its projection of one million EV users by 2030, but said numbers would most likely reach 630,000-700,000 by the end of the decade. Responding to concerns from Mr O'Gorman regarding the 'almost systematic removal of references to cycling in this programme for government', Mr O'Brien told the committee the TD could 'be absolutely assured that this Government is as committed as the last to continue the real advancements that were made over the last five years in the provision of active travel schemes'. In addition to the Government's commitment to spend €360 million on public transport infrastructure, Mr O'Brien said his department would seek additional funds through the updated National Development Plan to improve 'active travel'.
LBCI
24-06-2025
- Business
- LBCI
Bank Audi and Neo Digital Bank introduce Google Pay services in Lebanon
Bank Audi and Neo Digital Bank have announced the introduction of Google Pay services in Lebanon for the first time, enabling their Mastercard holders to make fast, easy, and secure payments using Android devices. Customers can now add their Mastercard issued by Bank Audi or Neo to Google Wallet and use it for contactless payments at points of sale, as well as for online or in-app purchases both within Lebanon and abroad.
GSM Arena
18-06-2025
- GSM Arena
NFC 15 comes with improved range and better features
NFC Forum introduced version 15 of the NFC (Near Field Communication) standard. The most notable upgrade is the extended communication range. It's now 2 cm, up from 0.5 cm. This makes tasks such as contactless payments faster and more stable. With the increased range, the NFC no longer requires precise device alignment and enables more consistent connections. The new NFC 15 benefits compact devices like smartphones and wearables the most. The new NFC standard should reduce failed tap payments, for example, and simplify NFC use. It also enables smoother interactions in public transport, better "digital keys" experience and easier wireless charging alignment. Despite the extended range, the NFC Forum says the new standard doesn't compromise security. It remains a proximity-based feature and protects contactless payments. NFC 15 also brings support for Digital Product Passport (DPP) allowing brands to store product lifecycle data using the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF). The NFC 15 standard's technical specifications are already available, while public access and compliance certification will begin this fall. Source
Android Authority
17-06-2025
- Android Authority
NFC just got a serious range boost, and your next smartwatch is going to love it
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR The new NFC Release 15 specification increases range from 5mm to up to 2cm, making alignment less critical to initiating a compliant connection. This extended range will make NFC connections quicker and more reliable in the future, especially for smaller devices like smart watches and smart rings. It also introduces support for the NFC Digital Product Passport (NDPP), allowing phones to serve as payment terminals. Unless you're picking up something in the extreme budget range, most Android phones come with NFC these days. NFC, short for Near Field Communication, is handy for contactless payments and other short-range proximity-based use cases. This short-range is getting an upgrade with the NFC Forum's latest NFC Release 15 specification. The highlight of this NFC Release 15 specification is its extended range for certified compliant NFC contactless connections, going from the current 5mm to up to 2cm, which is a 4x increase. This may seem like a tiny change, but this extended range means that NFC chips on devices needn't be as precisely aligned as they currently need to be. This would allow NFC connections to start sooner, making the process quicker and more reliable, especially on smaller form factor devices like smartwatches and smart rings. The range is still very short, and you still need a fair amount of user intent to initiate a connection. Still, you needn't awkwardly dance your wrist around on the payment terminal to make a payment, as both devices will have a wider acceptable area for the connection handshake. Wait, but aren't there devices already operating at 2cm distance? Yes, there are, and this spec release creates a standard for more of them to come up, ensuring they continue to play nice with each other. Oliver Cragg / Android Authority Another highlight is the support for the NFC Digital Product Passport (NDPP) standard, which allows you to use your mobile phone as a payment terminal instead of requiring a dedicated device. More technically, the standard includes a data-agnostic framework that allows a single NFC tag embedded in a product to store and transmit both standard and extended DPP data using common NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) records. NFC Release 15 will be made available to adopter-level members and the public sometime in Fall 2025, and the certification compliance process will also begin then. Higher-level NFC Forum members can already download the Technical Specifications for this NFC Release 15. As you can imagine, products compatible with the specification will take a while to reach the market, but I am optimistic about the future. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Town gets 96 new parking machines
New parking payment machines are being installed in Reading after the old ones were taken out of service in April. The borough council has begun the process of replacing the old pay and display machines - which allowed drivers to pay over the phone or using the RingGo app - with 96 new ones. They will allow contactless payments by bank cards, mobile payments via apps, and about 20 of them will take cash payments. Lead councillor for transport John Ennis said the new machines would offer "a much more convenient service" for motorists. He said he recognised cash payment remained popular in some places, which the council said included the area around the Royal Berkshire Hospital. "Machines will still accept cash in these locations," he said. The old machines were bagged up in April. Of the 96 machines, 82 will be used for on-street parking, with the remainder being installed in off-street car parks. The council's review of its on-street parking service found that 55% of transactions were made using the RingGo app. RingGo's call service allows people to pay for parking without needing a smartphone. The installation of the machines clears the way for emissions-based parking charges to be introduced, which were discussed by the council's traffic management sub-committee on Wednesday. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Parking machines covered amid move to cashless Reading Borough Council
