Digicel Wins Best Near Field Communication (NFC)

While operators in major markets like the UK and the USA experiment with programmes using smart phones and credit cards, a small Pacific nation was propelled into the spotlight as a global leader in mobile payments earlier this month when Digicel triumphed at the Connected World Forum, winning the award for Best NFC Deployment for its 'Beep and Go' service.

Launched in the Kingdom of Tonga in July, 'Beep and Go' is the world's first fully inclusive payments network linking NFC point-of-sale (POS) terminals to mobile money wallets across the nation.

The Pacific nation is home to 105,000 people with significant ties to Australia, New Zealand and the USA and is heavily dependent on private remittances. In a developing economy where credit card and bank account penetration is low and very few people have smart phones, Digicel's service in Tonga is now recognised as a unique deployment of mobile-based NFC payments services. Any customer with a Digicel phone can receive international payments direct to their mobile and can then make purchases at over 150 retail stores across the Kingdom. Customers simply tap their mobile on an NFC-enabled POS terminal and enter their secure PIN to complete their transactions.
The Digicel service uses contactless stickers inside the device which have been specifically designed to provide reliable transactions no matter what Digicel mobile phone is used. These contactless stickers give current customers the possibility to use mobile phones to make payments while waiting for NFC handsets to reach critical mass.

The Connected World Forum is the world's leading event dedicated to mobile value added services (VAS). With over 1,000 leading experts focused on launching and scaling profitable Mobile Lifeline services, the Connected World Forum is considered the best place to discover the latest developments in mobile money, mobile health, mobile education, mobile agriculture and other mobile lifeline services.