Swiss NFC Test Relies On Chip Tags At Farmers’ Market

Eighty consumers in the Zurich region are testing the use of mobile phones to make purchases from farmers’ markets in one of the latest tests of Near Field Communication technology, a spokesperson for Legic Identsystems Ltd., a Switzerland-based contactless-technology vendor participating in the project, tells CardLine. The test, which started this month and is scheduled to last four to six months, enables consumers to touch their NFC-enabled Nokia 6131 phones against price tags containing NFC chips in the farmer shops. The phones have “shopping basket” applications that store the item and price information, Legic says. Consumers touch a “checkout” tag to process the payments. The shops deploy no traditional point-of-sale terminals, Legic says. “No payment terminals are needed, as the payment process is handled via an over-the-air” service, the spokesperson says. “The payment information of each customer is connected to an account behind the scene, and the money is transferred to the farmer on a monthly basis.” Participants were selected from among existing market customers and consumers from the area, the spokesperson adds. Personnel from the University of Applied Sciences from Northwest Switzerland will monitor and analyze the test, Legic says. Austria-based mobile contactless-technology vendor Nextperts GmbH, Swiss-based mobile payments firm e24 AG and Germany-based chip card supplier Winter AG also are participating in the test.