Paying for KFC with your NFC phoneThe next day: October 19, 2007Transport1000hrs--We got up bright and early knowing we had an important day ahead. We set off leaving our wallet behind and tasked with finding out if this "wallet-phone" concept was feasible in Singapore. Like any voyager on a trip to the unknown, we had butterflies in our stomach before we embarked on our journey. Would we get weird stares? What if it didn't work? Our first task was to board the public bus holding our trial phone with an embedded EZ-Link chip. Tap. We could hear the familiar di-di sound the reader emits upon an authorized transaction. Well, that wasn't so tough. Maybe this whole thing would work after all. In our spare time, we went through the EZ-Link purse application on the phone and it displayed information such as when the last credit top-up was, remaining balance and latest transactions. 1030hrs--The next task was similar to the previous, except now we had to get past the gantry to the public train--the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). The outcome? Another breeze through. There were no hiccups with the embedded EZ-Link chip and it worked as though we were using our smart card. ) Smart Tags1615hrs--Later in the day, we decided to check out some of the smart tags installed by one of the partners of the trial--Golden Village cinemas. We dropped by VivoCity and greeting us on some of the movie poster boards were the NFC smart tags. Tap. No NFC device found. ) We repeated the same action a few times before we gave up and called the helpline. Even after turning off the phone, removing the battery and placing it back as instructed, the smart tags refused to respond to our persistent tapping. We called the helpline again and were told it could be because the tags were not activated, yet. 1700hrs--Next, we checked out some of the bus stops at the Orchard Road shopping belt, one of the busiest retail districts of Singapore. We found the first smart tag at the bus stop outside Tangs, but to our disappointment, that didn't work as well. 1710hrs--We decided to trudge on to the next bus stop. This time, we were outside Lucky Plaza. Having been disappointed twice, we were half guessing that there would be a third time, too. Much to our surprise, the tag at this bus stop worked! Upon recognition of the smart tag, we received a text URL message. Clicking on the link opened up the WAP browser and bus service information data was quickly downloaded to the phone via GPRS. From the handset's display, we were able to view the service numbers at the bus stop, the start/end point of each service number and the entire route of the vehicle. Food And Beverage1730hrs--Having taken the public transport and checked out some smart tags with our NFC-enabled handset, the next thing we had to do was fill our stomach at McDonald's, one of the places with EZ-Link readers installed. The counter staff gave us a quizzical look when we placed our phone on the reader, though once the transaction was approved, off she went to prepare our order, no questions asked. 1745hrs--On our way back to the train station, we spotted another outlet at Wisma Atria that was participating in the NFC user trial in Singapore. Besides being able to make purchases at outlets that use EZ-Link as a form of payment, trialists can also download discount coupons via smart posters. We managed to download a promotional offer at Famous Amos that entitled us to 50g of free cookies with every 250g purchased. 1800hrs--By the end of the day, our initial S$10 credit in our EZ-Link purse on the NFC phone was almost spent. Topping up the credit was done at the Add Value Machine found at all MRT stations. The process is similar to what most commuters are familiar with: By placing the card (in our case, the NFC phone) on the reader and topping up value via a credit/debit card. |
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