Contactless Challenge Day 5 – finding NFC venues

Last updated: 20 March 2014

We are now half way through the challenge. It is set to run until Wednesday at midnight when the final scores shall be counted and the winner of #GemaltoNFC announced.

But that’s still some way off, and there are plenty more contactless challenges that our NFC battlers can complete.

To summarize recent events, Ewan MacLeod has, in the words of the Godfather, ‘gone to the mattresses.’ Having traveled back up to Ascot where NFC-enabled venues appear to be harder to source than in London, he is no doubt planning his comeback. Watch this space!

Meanwhile, our other challenger, Jon Choo, has been re-energized following his flowery success, and completed the Thames Clipper challenge, paying for a trip on the river with NFC. He also managed to buy a burrito/wrap, one of our crowdsourced challenges, although whether EAT can be considered a traditional burrito/wrap is another question. Also promising was his experience at the Southbank Centre where contactless options are available. Cutting-edge culture.

In light of our previous post outlining some of our learnings and tips when it comes to using NFC in London, Jon Choo has added his perspectives:

“Both Ewan and I agree about a lack of signage at shop entrances, as well as at counters to indicate whether a shop accepts contactless payment. Having spoken to a few people, quite a few were confused with the contactless logo. In fact, many assumed it indicated the presence of a free WiFi network!”

“Re: unhealthy food, it was my fear that I would spend the entire week visiting fast food chains but, so far, I’ve managed to avoid McDonald’s and Subway (who knows for how long though!). New cafés might be better equipped than established chains as the equipment will be newer. Sadly, however, it appears that some staff weren’t even aware they were able to accept contactless payment. More training and a campaign to raise awareness campaign is definitely needed.”

Thanks for your thoughts, Jon, and fingers crossed this challenge helps drive more education around NFC payments. To help out we have generated a Google Map to pinpoint where NFC purchases have and can be made. All suggestions welcome.

[google-map-v3 width=”350″ height=”350″ zoom=”12″ maptype=”roadmap” mapalign=”center” directionhint=”false” language=”default” poweredby=”false” maptypecontrol=”true” pancontrol=”true” zoomcontrol=”true” scalecontrol=”true” streetviewcontrol=”true” scrollwheelcontrol=”false” draggable=”true” tiltfourtyfive=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkerlist=”Pret a Manger, Richmond Road, TW9 1DY{}1-default.png|Timpsons, 6 York Street, Town Centre, Twickenham TW1 3LD{}1-default.png|McDonalds, 30 The Quadrant, Richmond, Greater London TW9 1DN{}1-default.png|Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX{}1-default.png|Thames Clipper, Bankside Pier, Bankside, London SE1 9TG{}1-default.png|EAT, One New Change, St Pauls, London, EC4M 9AF{}1-default.png|Tesco, 67a St Peters Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3EB{}1-default.png|Marks & Spencers Simply Food, Juxon House Paternoster Square, The City London, EC4M 7DX{}1-default.png|Museum of London, 150 London Wall City of London, Greater London EC2Y 5HN{}1-default.png” bubbleautopan=”true” showbike=”false” showtraffic=”false” showpanoramio=”false”]

Moving on to the important aspect of the challenge – who is currently in the lead? The scores are.