Raiffeisen CardService plans to issue vpay (debitcard) and cardis (prepaid purse) for contactless payment in combination with iCaisse for iPhone 4 and 4S. Both means of payment are operating contactless only and the sensitive data is stored on a micro SDCard with an embedded smartcard chip.

The prepaid purse stores up to 50 EUR and is topped-up automatically after a floor limit is reached (with 50 EUR, a different amount can be configured by the user). The top-up is performed automatically without user interaction. In case the amount due exceeds the amount on the card, the payment might fail (the behavior is not yet clear at the moment). The prepaid purse can be used for transactions up to 20 EUR. For transactions above 20 EUR a vpay transaction is performed, which is authorized online only. For any transactions (vpay as well as cardis) the iPhone needs to be unlocked and the Raiffeisen’s CardMobile App needs to be started.

The NFC medium is a microSD card which is plugged into a so called iCaisse from device fidelity. The iCaisse communicates through the accessory port with the iPhone to exchange information as such as the unlock command as well as transaction information.

Device Fidelity is cooperating with MasterCard in the US. At Moneto.me the iCaisse with a micro SDCard comes for USD 79,95 including USD 10,00 paypass credit. When integrating the micro SDCard into other devices such as Android devices, a so-called “booster” sticker is required (due to the very small magnetic field of a NFC enabled microSD card). The installation process of such a sticker is shown in the following video:

In the beginning hobex — Raiffeisens own acquirer — will be the only company accepting both types of payments (vpay and cardis). Gerald Kubu, head of card services, claims that there are plans to cooperate with other acquirers. The service provider for processing is SIX Card Solutions. Currently only FirstData has installed some Vivotech NFC readers at Zielpunkt in Vienna and Schlecker. Hobex Verifone readers have only be spottet in the cantina of Raiffeissen. From a devices point of view, Raiffeisen currently is focusing on iOS devices. Android, Blackberry or Windows Mobile Phones will not be supported in the beginning.

The rollout is planned to start on April 1st 2012.

Press Release Raiffeisen

Press Release SIX Card