Speaking at the GSMA’s mobile payment conference in Singapore, Barba said it was important that the industry work together to make NFC take off, as a local ecosystem was mandatory when it came to stimulating usage.
Interoperability was key said Barba adding that mobile operators and service providers alike had to figure out the most painless way to offer an open, secure and visible NFC service to all, in order to avoid fragmentation.
Designing this mobile contactless service would require new skills, he explained, especially in terms of making NFC simple to find, subscribe and install, as well as having to foster the trust and confidence in the service at both retail and customer levels.
“Train your vendors, equip them, be visible, communicate,” Barba said.
European operators, he claimed, were especially vested in NFC technology and had already started putting the secure infrastructure into place which would enable the support and development of the service.
“Mobile NFC is set to take off,” Barba proclaimed, noting that he saw the evolution of NFC going from a pre-loaded service, to services one could download to their SIM and eventually even use seamlessly abroad, much like a credit card.
“Simple, portable and secure,” he concluded optimistically about NFC’s future.
