LAS VEGAS, Nevada – At the CTIA Wireless trade show, Contactless Data, Inc has announced the completion of the beta version of its MobiFetch™ mobile coupon platform. The Tucson, Arizona-based startup company is demonstrating MobiFetch, which provides mobile coupon distribution and processing by leveraging Near Field Communication (NFC), at booth #5221. NFC is a short-range communication technology being supported by next-generation cell phones, which will emulate contactless cards at the point of sale. With transit and access control NFC-compatible cards also being issued in major cities, contactless technology is set to be ubiquitous in the United States. According to the Smart Card Alliance, close to 35 million contactless payment cards have already been issued in the United States, where they are accepted at more than 80,000 merchant locations equipped with over 400,000 NFC readers.
MobiFetch is positioned to be adopted in the near future as the leading third party platform for secure mobile coupon issuance and redemption using NFC-enabled phones. The U.S. coupon industry distributes roughly 300 billion paper coupons annually, with an average redemption rate of about 1%, and a redemption value estimated at $2.6 billion (Source: NCH). Contactless Data is currently building important strategic partnerships and plans to launch a pilot in 2008 before rolling out its services nationwide. “We are very confident that NFC technology will be the key enabler for allowing the wide usage of mobile coupons,” said Ismaila Wane, President and CTO of Contactless Data, Inc. “MobiFetch will help the coupon industry to move to the next stage.
