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Coca-Cola is in the midst of experimenting with NFC contactless payments in Belgium and Luxembourg. The company has struck a partnership deal with PingPing to implement their technology on Coca-Cola vending machines. The NFC payment enablement program is set to start at the end of this year, effectively making Belgium the first European country to be equipped with such [NFC] as solution.
In order to buy beverage, customers need to hold their phone with a PingPing tag (which is a sticker on their mobile phone – like the one offered by Bling Nation in the U.S.) or PingPing card in front of the reader fitted to the Coca-Cola vending machine. It’s that easy and we even have a demo video to share, so you could how this works in real-world.
Commenting on the new, Stijn Vander Plaetse, VP Innovation at Belgacom (company behind PingPing solution) said: “After the success of contactless payment in the mobility field, this partnership with the major player in the beverage sector again demonstrates the soundness of our innovative strategy which aims to transform the mobile phone into an electronic wallet. We are convinced that PingPing can offer a simple, efficient solution for small, daily purchases.”
[Via: CellularNews]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
