| Singapore may be one of the first nations to see the widespread adoption of NFC |
The 17th edition, Cards & Payments Asia 2012, Asia's largest smart technology exhibition is set to wow with a bigger and better event this year. It will showcase highly anticipated new technologies in Near Field Communication (NFC) and contactless payment together with the entire spectrum of smart technology initiatives. Key stakeholders from the telecommunications, government authorities and services, banking, hospitality, retail, healthcare, transport, aviation and logistics sectors will come together to reveal how the latest applications and product innovations can drive service, growth and business opportunities in their respective industries across Asia.
Singapore may be one of the first nations to see the widespread adoption of NFC as a payment mode. This is made possible via the S$40 million Call-for-Collaboration (CFC) initiative, allowing up to 20,000 retail points and taxis to be NFC-enabled by mid 2012. This initiative, by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and 7 companies, namely mobile operators M1, StarHub, SingTel, payment service providers Citibank, DBS and EZ-Link, as well as Gemalto, a digital security company, marks Asia's first interoperable nationwide deployment of NFC mobile payment system. Along with the rest of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region which sees more than 9 countries like Thailand, Malaysia, India, China, South Korea and Sri Lanka making advances in NFC technology, experts believe that this tech savvy region could be the first adopters of NFC enabled mobile payment for their next mobility solutions.
Richard Ireland, Chief Executive, Terrapinn Asia Pacific said, "This year's Cards & Payments Asia not only allows attendees to gain valuable insights on how to capitalise on the exponential growth of e-commerce and mobile commerce, but leverage on cutting-edge knowledge of multi-channel strategies for effective customer engagement, making it a must-attend event for all stakeholders seeking an edge over their competitions."
This three-day event expects to draw more than 8,000 attendees, over 200 international leading solution providers from Singapore, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy and many more. 7 concurrent conferences and pre- and post-workshops will feature renowed speakers from all over Asia and beyond.
Co-located with Cards & Payments Asia 2012 are seven synergistic events: Prepaid Cards Asia, Near Field Communication (NFC) World Asia, Digital ID World Asia, RFID World Asia, Retail World Asia, Online Retail World Asia and Digital Signage World Asia.