Every year (for the past ten years!) we have produced and hosted our Contactless & Mobile Award show in London. This year it will be taking place on the 26th April in London and we are happy to announce this years 2016 Contactless & Mobile Awards.

As always, it was a tough decision to break it down to the four finalists in each category and made harder so by the fact that this year we compressed the categories somewhat – thanks in part to the fact that NFC and contactless technology is now included in many everyday services. However, technology never stands still and this year we have cast our net wider to include breakthrough applications, platforms and foundation technologies (including bitcoin and the blockchain) that will shape the face of FinTech for years to come.

So, without further ado, here are the 2016 CMA categories and the finalists;

Payment Innovation

Awarded for innovative schemes and applications, as well as technology. This category looks at disruptive approaches and the smart use of technology in the contactless and mobile payment space.
•    Bank Pekao – Multi–currency debit card (Poland)
•    Smartlink – Contactless Companion Platform (Switzerland)
•    Beijing Mobile Payments Solutions – Mobile Payment Module (China)
•    PayKey – Social network payment enablement (Israel)

Retail & Loyalty

The retail industry is the front line for all consumer oriented technology innovation. Rewarding customers for brand loyalty is core to the retail industry and there are many innovative contactless and mobile implementations out there. The judges are looking for forward thinking, integrated solutions that take retail and/or loyalty to the next level.
•    Vix Technology – Vix SmartSite® Stadium (Australia)
    •    Red Ant/Halfords – Smartwatch-enabled click-and-collect service (UK)
•    Advanced Card Systems Ltd. – ePLUS (Hong Kong)
•    Ingenico Group/schuh – iSMPi5 (UK)

Transport & Ticketing

Awarded for the best use of contactless / NFC technology within the transportation and ticketing environment. Be it public transport or tickets for events, this award is aimed at those companies who have embraced the new contactless / NFC technology to deliver their specific products to a mass audience.
•    Kentkart – Open Loop NFC Payment (Turkey)
•    Masabi – JustRide (UK)
•    Oberthur Technologies/Smartlink – MyCityGo mobile application (France/Switzerland)
•    Penrillian – Voyager (UK)

Contactless & Mobile City Initiative

Awarded for the most ambitious and widespread initiative to implement mobile or contactless technology. Applications can include mobile payment, public transportation, hospitality and tourist schemes.
•    Tedipay – MultiPass (UK)
•    Československá obchodní banka – ČSOB ticketing solution (Czech Republic)
•    Cork City Centre Forum – Cork Cashes Out initiative (Ireland)
•    Tech Mahindra – MoboMoney (India)

Payment Security

There is no payment without security. In this category, we are looking for the most convincing examples of smart security mechanisms used to secure transactions – from the use of cryptocurrencies to biometrics.
•    2C2P – One-Time-Card (Singapore)
•    Spire Payments – inSPire mPOS API (UK)
•    HYPR Corp.– HYPR Biometric Tokenization (USA)
•    Keypacso – Keypasco PKI sign (Sweden)

Next Generation Ecosystem

In this category we are looking at block chain ecosystems and use cases such as cryptocurrency platforms, supply chain or identity management. Cutting out ineffective banking intermediaries, these technologies could save billions for consumers and the financial services industry.
 •    Epiphyte – Chain Reactor (USA)
•    Ledger – Ledger Blue (France)
•    Plutus.it – Contactless payments powered by the Blockchain (UK)
•    Yoti Ltd. – Yoti: Digital Identity System (UK)

ID & Authentication
Secure

Authentication is key when it comes to securing people’s identity. Contactless and mobile technology adds the convenience to ID applications, facilitating the use of government and/or private sector issued schemes. Awarded to the most prolific secure ID system out there.
•    Bank Pekao – Electronic Student Identity Card (Poland)
•    Tatra Banka – NFC overview (Slovakia)
•    Orange – Mobile Connect (France)
•    Oberthur Technologies/Hatton Nations Bank – Sathkara pensioner card (Sri Lanka)

Mobile Wallet

Awarded for the smartest, most consumer-friendly and easy-to-use mobile wallet implementation. Judges will be looking at security, privacy and stability as well as convenience.
•    fastacash – fastacash social platform for payments (Singapore)
•    Cashcloud – cashcloud mobile wallet (Luxembourg)
•    Points – Points Loyalty Wallet (Canada)
•    VUB Banka – VUB Wave2Pay (Slovakia)

Started in 2013 and back by popular demand, the Contactless Intelligence ‘Industry Choice Award’ will be opened on April 6th 2016 and run for ten days. The nominees of this award are the finalists in the eight categories outlined in this year’s CMAs. Voted for by the industry at http://www.contactlessintelligence.com, this award allows the mobile, NFC and contactless industry to vote on who they think should get recognition. The winner will be announced on the 26th April, during the Contactless Intelligence Conference Awards Gala.

Visa Europe will also present the winners of two further awards on 26th April: The ‘Visa Contactless Award for Business Leader of the Year’ and the ‘Visa Award for Contribution to Contactless’.

If you wish to join us the please do so on the evening of the 26th April by clicking the link and registering for a ticket – we’d love to see you there!