Challenge Accepted: Gemalto Gets Two Bloggers Chasing Through London For NFC

The summer of 2012 filled the UK with important events, such as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, and the payments industry took the opportunity to push forward NFC payments. Gemalto was very enthusiastic of the plans, but wanted to know how contactless mobile payments fared in every day life in Britain and challenged two bloggers to a contactless race.

In the words of the company, “Ewan and Jon will soon be set loose in London to compete in a series of challenges to see how easily contactless payments can be used in the post-Olympics city. In what we expect to be a hard-fought battle, Jon and Ewan will be free to race Parkour-style across the city, should they wish to try, as they attempt to visit a range of tourist attractions, shopping destinations and transport hubs, using contactless payments to complete each challenge. Bond may have had an underwater car and wrist dart gun, but we’re providing Jon and Ewan with a Samsung Galaxy SIII each to help them complete their objectives.”

The challenge started in November 19 and lasted ten days. The two bloggers were provided with a Samsung Galaxy S III equipped with Barclaycard and some spending money. They competed to see who could spend the most during those ten days using only contactless payments and had to accomplish different tasks. While the bloggers’ competition might not be as exciting as Bond’s latest film, the findings might be.

The first day seemed to be complicated for both bloggers as they struggled with independent coffee shops that only accept cash and retailers who are supposed to offer contactless payments but don’t. It was also clear that many shopkeepers had no idea what contactless payments were and did not know it was possible to pay with a smartphone.

The two bloggers had, among other things, to spend a whole day contactless. It proved difficult and one of the bloggers performed a Bond-worthy manoeuver that saw him buy six cookies for dinner and race through the train station two minutes before his train. While one of the bloggers did manage to complete the challenge, he struggled with several independent shops and had to resort to chains, where contactless payments are widely accepted – albeit not promoted.

Towards the end of the challenge the two bloggers seemed to have mastered the art of paying contactless but problems remained. It seemed that instead of using contactless payments to pay at their regular shopping and eating spots, the two bloggers were running around the city to fit the conctactless challenge. One of the bloggers also noted that a fragmented market makes it difficult for mobile contactless to catch up. On the last day of the challenge he noticed that none of his friends could pay with their phones: four owned iPhones, and the two others had Android phones that were not compatible with any of the country’s mobile wallet brands.

While there were many bleeps during the challenge it seems that the contactless trend is taking up in London, with more and more retailers adopting NFC technology. It remains to be seen whether smaller independent retailers will follow through.