RFID News

        The GSM Association (GSMA) is a trade association representing nearly 800 mobile telephony operators and more than 200 product and service companies across 219 countries. Many of its members have led NFC trials and are preparing services for commercial launch.

GSM is involved with several initiatives:

· Standards: GSMA is developing certification and testing standards to ensure global interoperability of NFC services.

· Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative: Seeks to define a common global approach to using NFC technology to link mobile devices with payment and contactless systems.

· On November 17, 2010, after two years of discussions, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile launched a joint venture to develop a platform through which point of sale payments could be made using NFC in cell phones. Initially known as Isis Mobile Wallet and later as Softcard, the venture was designed to usher in broad deployment of NFC technology, allowing their customers' NFC-enabled cell phones to function similarly to credit cards throughout the US. Following an agreement with—and IP purchase by—Google, the Softcard payment system was shuttered in March, 2015, with an endorsement for its earlier rival, Google Wallet.