On 1st and 2nd April 2009 we will be holding our Annual Contactless Intelligence Spring Conference and on the evening of 1st April will host the Monkey Awards. These Awards are presented to those companies, organizations and retailers who have done the most to embrace and implement contactless technology into their day-to-day operating practices. They represent a real promotional springboard and give the winners a reputation and credibility for their efforts within the industry. The competition is open to all implemented contactless applications within the relevant sectors, regardless of geographic region or size of corporation. Selected by a panel of experts, the Awards will be presented at a prestigious evening ceremony, open to all Conference delegates.

The evening will be compered by Mark Jones and features special guest James Allan, who spent 2008 only using cards (no cash at all) and has plenty of anecdotes and opinions about his experiences of contactless payment to share with us.

Entry to the CI Monkey Awards began in October 2008. Since then, CI has received a record number of applications and we have short-listed the nominations to a maximum of 6 entrants per category. Finalists in the shortlist have been contacted by CI and have been requested to provide additional information to back up their initial entry, to enable the judges to make a qualified decision.

Finalists for the 2009 Monkey Awards are as follows:

Category 1 – In Restaurant Dining

• YO! Sushi
• Auchan restaurants – Flunch
• Chop’d

Category 2 – High Throughput Beverage

• Pret a Manger
• Caffe Nero
• Coffee Republic

Category 3 – High Throughput Food

• EAT
• McDonalds
• Gertal
• Pret

Category 4 – Competitive Advantage through technology

1. Large sized companies

• Carrefour
• Evening Standard
• Caffe Nero

2. Small-medium sized companies

• Independents

Category 5 – High Street Retailing

• Carrefour
• CVS
• Duane Reade
• Books etc
• Fnac
• ING bank for Romanian NFC trial

Category 6 – Health/Lifestyle/Entertainment

• CRUSSH (Health)
• Caffe Nero (Life Style)
• Citibank for Clear Card in Indonesia (Lifestyle)
• O2 for the Pilsen NFC trial (Lifestyle)
• Payter for the NFC Pilot in Rotterdam (Lifestyle)
• Manchester City Football Club (Entertainment)

Category 7- Public Concern (Local government/schools/universities etc.)

• Barnardos
• Hackney City Farm
• National Trust
• O2 for the NFC solution for Care workers

Category 8 – Transportation

• Telecom Italia for Mobile Ticketing in Trento
• RMV for NFC Ticketing in Frankfurt
• IDO (Bosphorus Ferries)

Category 9 – Trailblazing and Innovation

• GFI Portugal
• Baxter Storey – Barclaycard In-house Catering – Cafe Areas
• Aramark – Barclaycard In-house Catering – Cafe Areas
• EAT
• Manchester City Football Club
• Payter for the NFC Pilot in Rotterdam

10. The VISA PayWave Award – Best Customer Experience

• To be announced by Visa

Join us on the 1st April to find out who this year’s winners will be.

• (The Monkey Awards is sponsored by VISA Europe.)