RIM today announced that they're making use of that MasterCard PayPass certification for a near-field communications-enabled mobile wallet in Turkey. The Turkcell BlackBerry Bold 9900 will be spearheading the new contactless payment scheme, though it's easy to imagine the wealth of other NFC BlackBerry devices getting in on the service too - especially the BlackBerry Curve 9360, since it's already certified. Transactions under a certain amount won't need a PIN to be entered, ensuring you can tap and go with ease, but for anything over 35 Turkish Lira (or roughly $20), you'll need to authenticate.
Before getting too cynical about RIM paying attention to everywhere but North America, it's worth noting that Turkey is huge. There are 72 million people there, with 66 million cell phones in use as of 2009. Just to put that in perspective, here in Canada we've got about 24 million mobiles running among 34 million people.
Regardless, it'll be great when PayPass with mobile NFC lands here at home, and BlackBerry can start giving Google Wallet a bit of honest competition. Keep reading for the full press release.
Turkcell and RIM Launch NFC Mobile Wallet for BlackBerry Bold 9900 Customers in Turkey
First commercially available NFC-based mobile payments for BlackBerry smartphones via MasterCard PayPassTM
Waterloo, ON and Istanbul, Turkey - Turkcell and Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the commercial availability of an NFC mobile wallet application, the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan, for BlackBerry® BoldTM 9900 smartphone customers in Turkey.
The power of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 combined with the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan application enables Turkcell customers to enjoy making payments in a simple, easy, safe and convenient way by simply tapping their NFC-enabled BlackBerry Bold 9900 against a MasterCard PayPassTM reader in shops, retail outlets, cafes and restaurants across Turkey. In addition, Turkcell customers travelling abroad will also be able make payments in the same way .
Alexandra Zagury, Managing Director, Turkey, RIM said, "We are pleased to partner with Turkcell to launch the first commercially available NFC mobile wallet for BlackBerry smartphone customers in Turkey. RIM is committed to supporting the advancement of NFC technology and today's launch marks an exciting milestone for the future of mobile commerce."
Cenk Bayrakdar, Turkcell Deputy General Manager, Turkcell said, "Turkey is leading the way internationally in mobile financial services, especially NFC. The Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan application for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 opens up a new era of shopping, enabling simple, secure and convenient mobile payments at approximately 60000 contactless points of sale across Turkey. The security features of BlackBerry smartphones make RIM the ideal partner for enabling NFC-based mobile payments."
From today, Turkcell's BlackBerry Bold 9900 customers can apply for the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan service at Turkcell stores. Customers will be provided with a new NFC-enabled SIM and advised on how to download the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan application for free. As part of the registration process the customer's MasterCard details will be securely registered by Turkcell to enable payments of up to 35 TL per transaction with no pin or signature, using their BlackBerry Bold 9900. For payments over 35 TL, pin or signature support is also required.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry® CurveTM 9360 smartphones are the world's first SIM-based smartphones to receive MasterCard PayPass handset certification for secure NFC payments: http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=5263
Article | 1 hour ago Message to Netflix: BlackBerry does support streaming protected content
Article | 2 hours ago Should QNX just be called BlackBerry?
Article | 1 day ago Deal of the Day: Save 42% on the Incipio OVRMLD Flexible Hard Case for BlackBerry Z10
Article | 3 hours ago Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg take front row for Monaco Grand Prix
Article | 3 hours ago In honor of Memorial Day, receive FREE SHIPPING this weekend at ShopCrackBerry!
Article | 4 hours ago The diamond encrusted BlackBerry Q10 will set you back $31,000
TurkXtreme Jan 18, 2012 at 10:36 am
yeah in my country.
turkcell is very strong operator but very expensive.
i use vodafone.
same quality but lower price... :)
emirozmen Jan 18, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Turkcell all the way :)
TurkXtreme Jan 18, 2012 at 5:30 pm
You think ? :)
Kevin Michaluk Jan 18, 2012 at 10:38 am
Welcome to CrackBerry Simon... it's about time!!!
willwnet Jan 18, 2012 at 10:52 am
Can't wait for this to come to Canada - great to see Simon on CrackBerry too!
mssca Jan 18, 2012 at 5:24 pm
It will be 2050 by the time this hit Canada. I used to live in a third world country that implement new technology in communication few months after the technology comes out. But first world Canada have banking companies that can't afford to upgrade their system. Even in Japan they implement new tech stuff very fast.
TurkXtreme Jan 18, 2012 at 5:29 pm
Turkey is not third world country... ;)
shebmiller Jan 18, 2012 at 11:00 am
Cool stuff, looking forward to this service in NA. And welcome Simon!
Atakan Jan 18, 2012 at 11:03 am
That's my country :D
El Platanero Jan 18, 2012 at 11:33 am
If there is a program where it allows you to use your phone as a nfc wallet why haven't we seen somebody come out with an NFC app that just allows us to enter our card number into it and then be able to do the same thing?
Wouldn't that be easier?
I would think that some app developer would have jumped all over this by now. Hmmmm.
DagmarSchneitz6424@yahoo.com Jan 18, 2012 at 11:38 am
This will come handy in the US. Maybe a little too handy.
http://www.geekchoice.com
Simon Sage Jan 18, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. :) Guess it's high time I introduce myself in the forums.
BBPandy Jan 18, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Welcome to CB Simon Sage :)
WrightWords Jan 18, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Was astounded at cell phone use when we were in Turkey in 2010, and the marketing... this story points up the wider world of mobile outside the US!
scalemaster34 Jan 18, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Might be that US Carriers and RIM have not worked out who gets what % and how the system will work. Carriers want to create their own system that they get a part of.
Jackal99 Jan 18, 2012 at 1:37 pm
SO if you want it to come to Canada quicker the easiest solution is call yoru Mastercard provider (BMO or whatever) and ask them for pay pass on your Blackberry. They will say ? or we do not have that, and you agree nicely and ask to have your name put on a list. If 500 people did this the bank would think 50000 people want this today and put the effort into getting it done. The Banks all want you to spend more money and want to help you do that, they just need to prioritize who gets it first. (iphone with attachment, android, or blackBerry)
svjones Jan 18, 2012 at 2:05 pm
I was just revisited this idea for Canada. Looking at the Visa website (http://www.visa.ca/en/merchant/products/mobile.jsp) just yesterday in hopes I could find something in regards to when it'll be released in Canada.
It says it's been in beta testing in Toronto for some time now... Soon, very soon
keyhole Jan 18, 2012 at 5:04 pm
When this eventually gets to the US, will the 9930 also be able to use this app? Nothing in the article mentions the 9930 but that may be because the 9900 is the prime device sold in that part of the world. The 9930 is NFC capable and basically the exact same phone as the 9900 so one would assume that they both would be capable of using the NFC app. What do you think?
mssca Jan 18, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Yes both phones have the NFC, it is this f8%@king industries holding us back.
TheWolf1965 Feb 16, 2012 at 2:18 pm
From BlackberryOS.com
PlayBook OS 2.0 Launching February 21st Officially Confirmed
by
AgentBlackBerry
Published on 02-16-2012 12:45 PM
Categories:
BlackBerry News,
BlackBerry PlayBook
We have been waiting to hear an official date for OS 2.0 a really long time from BlackBerry or a RIM employee. Ever since the first whispers of a date were published, it's all been speculation. Today though we got some official RIM confirmation. At the Developing Native Games with the BlackBerry NDK 2.0 Webcast today, Angel Aldana, RIM Manager (Latin America Alliances), confirmed the official date of PlayBook's OS 2.0 launch to be... Tuesday, February 21st! Barring any setbacks, we will have a shiny new OS on our PlayBooks in about 5 days! This is awesome.