Following Apple’s announcement in Cupertino, California, yesterday, GuestLogix Inc has said that it is ‘fully prepared to support the increased popularity of NFC payments’ in travel retail.
 

 

 

It was revealed that ‘Apple Pay’ Near Field Communication (NFC) payments will be available for Apple’s iOS platform, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as well as its new Apple Watch.

 

NFC – a technology that allows payments to be made via enabled smartphones and mobile devices that are tapped or brought into close proximity to POS terminals – has been around for several years, but has failed to gain traction in the market.

 

GuestLogix, the merchandising, payment and business intelligence technology provider, estimates that its NFC-ready solutions will support more than 300m passenger trips per annum by end of Q1 2015.

 

AIRLINE, RAIL AND AIRPORT CUSTOMERS

The company claims it implemented its first NFC-ready devices in Q3 2012, having already deployed its NFC-compatible mobile POS technology across several airline, rail and airport lounge operators.

 

“We are very excited about the impact that Apple’s decision to accept NFC will have on the payment landscape and consumer purchasing habits,” said Brett Proud, President & CEO, GuestLogix.

 

“Apple’s support of NFC technology will surely act as a catalyst to drive NFC payments in North America and beyond, leading to increased usage across all operating systems – iOS, Android and Windows – all of which are supported by our PCI-compliant technology.

 

“In addition to supporting existing NFC payment technologies on our mobile POS platform, GuestLogix looks forward to supporting NFC payments via Apple Pay once this payment method is made available.”

 

STREAMLINING PAYMENT PREFERENCES

GuestLogix says it is eager for Apple to ‘drive industry adoption and contribute to an increased number of NFC transactions’ across all mobile operating systems, ‘benefitting the company and its customers’ that accept this payment method, along with participating retailers and consumers worldwide.

 

“GuestLogix has embraced iOS, in addition to Android and Windows version platforms, to support retailing via smartphones and tablets at onboard and off board touchpoints,” said Ilia Kostov, EVP Global Sales and Product Strategy, GuestLogix.

 

“With NFC payments enabled across all of these operating systems, smartphones and tablets are essentially becoming more and more integral to the transaction process, supporting the rise of self-service retailing across the passenger travel industry and the entire consumer landscape as a whole.”