The Gemalto Contactless Challenge kicks off in the United States 10 June, with Josh Kerr and Kathy Dalton, in Austin, TX and Salt Lake City, UT, respectively, putting contactless payment infrastructure to the test. Our bloggers will be looking to find the best and worst contactless experiences, and you can see the results daily here on the Gemalto blog, as well as on Adventure Mom and JoshKerr.
The Isis consortium of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless chose Austin and Salt Lake City to pilot its mobile wallet using NFC (near field communication) technology because both cities have a tech savvy population and a reputation for innovation. This is why we thought they would make ideal locations to try out the sort of infrastructure we can expect to see grow around the world over the next decade.
If you’re a retailer in Austin or Salt Lake City you may spot Josh or Kathy visiting your store and tweeting or blogging about their experience and progress. If you want to encourage them to stop by, just tweet them via the links above and include the #GemaltoNFC hashtag!
For our other readers around the world wondering how to get involved, join the discussion via the hashtag and let us know via the comments on the blog how things compare to NFC where you are! If you have a suggested contactless challenge for our bloggers to attempt, let us know as there’s a wealth of points on offer and both Kathy and Josh are keen to prove their city is number one!
We will add “bonus points”, allowing the bloggers to get creative in their adventure and encourage them to crowd source ‘tip-offs’ from their social followers:
• Buy contactlessly at a drive-thru
• Buy groceries
• Watch a movie at the movie theatre
• Add money to your phone credit
• Pay for a hair cut
• Social suggestion from one of your followers
• Buy flowers using NFC
• Go entirely contactless for a day
• Send Gemalto a postcard
• Pick up lunch
• Buy a book at the bookstore
• Buy music at a music store
• Grab a burrito
• Eat something sweet from a bakery
• Pick up some medicine at a pharmacy
• Buy sporting equipment
• Buy gas
• Get something for the home from a do-it-yourself store
• Redeem a coupon from your mobile wallet #1
• Redeem a coupon from your mobile wallet #2
• Invite followers to the kickoff meetup at Whole Foods to learn more about contactless payments and the mobile wallet and NFC technology. For every attendee, a bonus point is earned. For anyone who uses NFC to pay, another point is earned.
We learned so much from the Contactless Challenge in London and we’re looking forward to the lessons 2013 will bring for providers, retailers and consumers alike!
