A number of IBBT research groups from the Belgian universities of Leuven, Gent and Brussels announce a collaboration with leading IT players in the payment industry to thoroughly investigate the possibilities, usability and security of NFC applications.
The agreement will also enable the preparation of the Belgian market and speed up the availability of standardised NFC-based products. The NFC Voucher project functions within the Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology (IBBT), a research institute founded by the Flemish government.
NFC is a short-range, wireless connectivity technology allowing consumers to perform contactless transactions, access digital content and connect electronic devices. The technology will enable consumers to use their mobile phone or device to, for example, make payments, access the public transport or store electronic coupons. There’s an abundance of realistic business opportunities to be explored.
Within the scope of this project a new communication scheme is to be analysed: the viability of NFC-based electronic vouchers as an alternative for popular paper-based vouchers like, for example, meal vouchers, gift vouchers or discount coupons. The different aspects of this NFC-Voucher concept are currently being studied by the different partners such as business model, legal aspects, usability, security, communication cost, etc. Issuing vouchers using the new technology will simplify and influence consumer behaviour.
“The IBBT project will facilitate the introduction of next generation applications such as NFC and will offer new value-added services for the benefit of the Belgian customer. Gathering a group of industry experts with different expertise is a strong asset to develop convenient and secure e-transactions,” says Bart Preneel, professor at COSIC, K.U.Leuven.