Inside Contactless is working with another France-based contactless-technology firm to develop kiosks and electronic wallets that use Near Field Communication, an Inside spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.
The other firm, TazTag, is using Inside’s MicroRead chips for products that use NFC, the short-range, two-way wireless technology that enables contactless retail purchases and ticketing, couponing and information downloads. Those products include TazCard, a handheld computer about the size of a credit card consumers can use for ticketing, payments and other NFC-based contactless applications.
The TazCard has a 3.5-inch color touch screen and can support biometric authentication. Immediate comment from TazTag was not available.
“The TazCard represents a new class of versatile NFC devices that will open the door to a broad range of new NFC applications,” Bertrand Moussel, an Inside executive vice president of sales, says in a statement.
TazTag also uses Inside’s chips for a kiosk that relies on NFC technology. Consumers can use the kiosk and their NFC-enabled devices such as mobile phones to buy museum tickets and similar products.
Various companies have conducted dozens of NFC tests around the world but have yet to launch large rollouts, partly because of the scarcity of NFC-enabled mobile handsets.
