Press Release: A new Hungarian invention unveiled in France by Cellum’s experts may result in a breakthrough in mobile payment. The new innovation enables non-bank or carrier-specific mobile purchases and bill payment and may help accelerate the increase of the international use of contactless NFC technology*. The NFC CellLink technology, an industry first, is first presented to the trade at the NFC Word Congress between 19 and 22 September.*
The Cellum Group of Hungary specializes in the development of innovative technologies in mobile commerce and payment. The company’s innovations increase the security and convenience of payment by a mobile phone. During the past two years, Cellum has put significant efforts into the development of contactless NFC technology, whose result, a groundbreaking innovation, is unveiled at the NFC Word Congress, the international exhibition and conference of the industry held at Sophia Antipolis, France.
The integration of contactless NFC technology, already widely adopted in plastic cards, into a mobile phone is a novel innovation, often in the trial phase throughout the world. Since, unlike plastic cards, mobile NFC may be charged by the device or may be able to interpret signals transmitted by a camera, it is capable of significantly more complex functions. Since mobile market stakeholders have not been able to agree on a mutually recognized, standardizable solution, no general technology standard has yet been adopted.
However, the groundbreaking new technology developed by the Hungarian Cellum Group can be universally adopted as it bypasses provisional solutions. Combining the benefits of carrier-independent NFC cards and NFC-enabled mobile phones, the new product offers a solution to the problems slowing down the increase of the international adoption of the technology. The innovation is essentially the mobile phone creating a ‘data bridge’ between the central account manager and the card. The application is non-technology-specific, i.e. it is independent of the technology used by banks and mobile carriers. The card balance can be drawn using any NFC-enabled mobile phone. It is a remarkably secure solution, as no data is stored on the mobile phone, which prevents hackers from accessing them.
The groundbreaking NFC CellLink technology will be first presented to the trade at the NFC Word Congress between 19 and 22 September. Prior to the exhibition, international stakeholders of the e-payment and mobile carrier markets have shown interest for Cellum’s innovative solution, to be showcased in various European countries following the conference.
During recent months, Cellum’ new NFC system has made a successful debut at various Hungarian festivals and sports events. A smart NFC card, developed for the hospitality industry, is debuting in Berlin during the NFC Word Congress. While providing a secure non-cash means of payment for customers, it also ensures more transparent and easier-to-organize operation for restaurateurs and managers. A cooperation agreement has recently been signed by Cellum and the management of Corpbank of Bulgaria on the establishment of a joint subsidiary whose activities will include the development and the promotion of the extensive use of mobile NFC technologies on the Bulgarian market.
*Background information:*
*NFC technology:* Near Field Communication is a radio frequency-based wireless communication standard, developed for the transmission of data stored on a microchip. The card or other data carrier, containing an NFC chip, is held at a few centimetres’ distance from the device that reads and interprets the stored data (such as an amount of payment, a personal ID or a public transport ticket). While the technology was first used on the market of plastic cards, it has now been adopted for payment solutions and as smart passes in public transport in some big cities outside Hungary.
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Cellum: *Hungary’s market-leading corporate group specializing in the development of mobile payment solutions. Established in 2000, the fast-growing technology group has worked in close cooperation with partners such as MasterCard, the Magyar Telekom Group, Telenor, Vodafone, FHB Bank, SPAR, Libri etc. Cellum’s proprietary innovations have ranged across all areas of m-commerce, including mobile purchasing, mobile payment and (contactless) NFC technologies. During recent years, the company’s successful solutions launched in Hungary have included mobile parking, mobile motorway stickers or mobile lottery. Today, over one million secure mobile transactions a month are handled by the Group in Hungary. Cellum Global Zrt. has recently received a substantial risk capital investment in order to finance its international expansion. Website: cellum.hu
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NFC World Congress:* nfcworldcongress.com
